A Plane in Utah Lets the Fish Fly
A viral video shows fish bursting out of a small plane, highlighting a method the state has used for more than a half-century to restock lakes.
Video
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources said that last week it used planes to stock about 200 lakes that are inaccessible by vehicle. The division said it had stocked fish by air since the 1950s and that the fish had a high survival rate.CreditCredit.Utah Division Of Wildlife Resources, via Reuters
July 13, 2021
The sky was blue, the trees were green a perfect day to be flying above a sparkling lake in southern Utah. A door at the bottom of a small plane opened, and thousands of fish burst out in a torrent of water, their bodies twirling as they cascaded into the lake below.
Credit Utah Division Of Wildlife Resources
It was a record year in the state of Utah for fishing and hunting licenses.
“It was a pretty significant sales year, as far as our hunting and fishing licenses go, Faith Jolley said. This was by far the most licenses we’ve sold in a one year period. By far.”
Jolley is the public information officer at the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. She said while they suspected there would be an increase in license sales due to the pandemic, it was way more than anticipated.
From March 2020 to February 2021 the DWR sold 417, 883 fishing licenses, which is an increase of more than 100,000 from the year before. 68,265 hunting licenses were sold compared to 50,551 from the year before.