 Now fish hatcheries play a provide an important role in boosting fish populations. The Department of Natural Resources recently announced that the French river hatchery in Duluth would be closed after nearly four decades of servers. Mel Meyer went to Park Rapids to see the hatchery there and what they're doing to manage fish populations. The Park Rapids fishery office is responsible for managing the fish in lakes and streams in parts of Hubbard, Wadena and Becker counties. Based on those surveys we make recommendations for things that we think we might be able to do to help improve the fishing. One of the ways they help is by creating stock fish to artificially increase or maintain healthy populations. We hatch out white sucker fry to feed to the muskies to get them started. Fish eggs come to the fishery where they are grown at controlled temperatures. They'll swim up out of the jar. They produce about 23 million walleye fry annually to be taken to area lakes and rearing ponds. Provide some of the fingerlings for not only our area but other areas around. They also produce almost 4,500 pure strain musky fingerlings each year. The fishery produces different species than that of the French river hatchery which revived the decimal trout population in Lake Superior. So we've essentially taken the largest freshwater lake in the world and successfully restored the top predator so that's wonderful news. Something that Doug Kingsley was excited to hear about. As long as they're healthy and can do well on their own that's the best situation. The fishery will start up its hatchery work again in April. In Park Rapids, I'm Al Meyer, Lakeland News. The DNR says that it plans to decommission the French River hatchery as soon as possible though it might keep some areas of the building in use for other means. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.