Open house is 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 24
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is inviting the public to tour the Waterville State Fish Hatchery and learn about the importance of the investment in constructing a new hatchery there. The open house will be 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 24 at the hatchery located in Waterville.
Visitors can tour the facility and see incubating fish eggs; young fish of various sizes; adult fish; and displays with fisheries sampling gear, nets, and work boats. Guests will also be able hear about the process of raising fish and enjoy refreshments.
“Touring the hatchery is a memorable experience. We’re looking forward to chatting about what we do and showing why we are so excited to be modernizing our operations,” said Craig Soupir, Waterville area fisheries supervisor. “The fish produced in the Waterville hatchery and other hatcheries in Minnesota are important for the state’s economy, ecology, and of course, our fishing opportunities.”
Opened in 1954, the Waterville hatchery is the state’s largest cool-water facility. It incubates and raises various sizes of walleye, northern pike and muskellunge for the state’s fish stocking program.
The hatchery is located 2 miles west of Waterville off of Le Sueur County Road 14 at 50317 Fish Hatchery Road. For more information on the Waterville area fisheries office, visit the Waterville area fisheries page or call the office during regular business hours at 507-362-4223.
The Waterville hatchery improvements are part of the once-in-a-generation Get Out MORE (Modernize Outdoor Recreation Experiences) investments approved by the Minnesota Legislature and signed by Gov. Tim Walz in 2023. Among the investments is $55 million to moving Minnesota toward a state-of-the-art fish hatchery system with safe and biosecure water supplies, increased fish production, and improved staff safety. An additional $5 million will go toward improving shore fishing opportunities.
To learn more about how these investments will improve outdoor experiences in the state, go to the Get Out MORE webpage of the DNR website.