Humboldt County’s Mad River Fish Hatchery to Close This Summer

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has announced it will cease operations at the Mad River Fish Hatchery in Humboldt County, citing rising costs, outdated infrastructure, strict regulations, and declining steelhead production.

Located east of Arcata, the hatchery originally opened in 1971, producing Chinook salmon, inland salmon, rainbow trout, and steelhead. Over time, most of these programs were phased out, leaving only steelhead trout and limited trout production. Today, Mad River Hatchery is CDFW’s smallest facility, employing just three full-time staff with a $730,000 annual budget.

“The steelhead program is no longer viable,” explained Jason Roberts, CDFW’s Northern Region Inland Fisheries Program Manager. “The hatchery isn’t providing the intended conservation or recreational benefits anymore.”

Continuing operations would require an additional $1 million annually, plus tens of millions in infrastructure repairs and modernization to meet federal standards. Steelhead, listed as a federally threatened species, require strict oversight that caps annual hatchery production at 150,000 fish—a fraction of other facilities, like Trinity River Hatchery, which produces 450,000 steelhead annually.

CDFW will release its remaining steelhead this spring, fully closing operations by June. Employees, resources, and equipment will be transitioned elsewhere. The facility itself will remain accessible to the public for fishing, hiking, swimming, and birdwatching. CDFW will also repurpose existing buildings for offices and workshops.

This closure does not affect local rainbow trout stocking for recreational fishing in Humboldt County.