Pahsimeroi Hatchery, near Challis, Idaho, was built in 1967 and was the last hatchery built by Idaho Power as part of its salmon and steelhead mitigation program. The hatchery produces more than 3 million steelhead eggs annually, some of which are provided to other non-Idaho Power programs around the state. Many of the adult steelhead returning from the ocean each year and trapped at Pahsimeroi Hatchery are distributed to Native American tribes, charities and food banks.

Eggs for Idaho Power production are shipped to Niagara Springs Hatchery near Wendell, Idaho, in early May. In April of the following year, fish are hauled in tankers back to the lower hatchery where they are released as smolts into the Pahsimeroi River to begin their 800-mile migration to the Pacific Ocean.

Pahsimeroi Hatchery also traps and spawns enough adult summer Chinook salmon to rear approximately 1 million ocean-bound smolts for release into the Pahsimeroi River each year.

Pahsimeroi Hatchery is owned and financed by Idaho Power, and operated and staffed by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. For additional information about the hatchery, visit the Idaho Department of Fish and Game’s website