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U.S. Sen. John Boozman will tour the Norfork National Fish Hatchery in Mountain Home on Wednesday to receive an update on significant trout population losses and discuss possible solutions.
The Republican senator will be joined by Lt. Col. Jesse Carter, deputy commander of the Little Rock District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, an assistant director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and members of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
The visit is scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday at the hatchery, located at 1414 State Hwy 177. Boozman is expected to speak with media at the main entrance following the tour.
Norfork Hatchery is the largest coldwater hatchery in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service system and the single largest stocking source of trout in Arkansas. The facility typically produces 3 million to 3.5 million trout annually and has stocked the state’s White and Norfork rivers since 1955.
The hatchery suffered a catastrophic die-off in fall 2025 after poor water quality in Norfork Lake, driven by low oxygen levels and excessive organic matter following a strong spring flood season, caused fish deaths to escalate from 1,000 per day to tens of thousands per day. An estimated 80 to 90 percent of the facility’s stock was lost.
The crisis was compounded by severe flooding in April 2025 that devastated the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Jim Hinkle Spring River State Fish Hatchery in Mammoth Spring. That facility lost roughly half its fish production and was reduced to 50 percent capacity.
With both facilities hobbled, the AGFC approved emergency harvest restrictions in October 2025, implementing catch-and-release rules on the White River below Bull Shoals Dam and the Norfork tailwater. The commission adopted revised limits in January, allowing anglers to keep two rainbow trout under 14 inches in the upper portions of those waters. Those limits remain in effect.
Recreational fishing represents a $2.6 billion industry in Arkansas, supporting more than 18,000 jobs and generating over $160 million in state and local taxes. The Norfork hatchery alone generates an estimated $100 million in annual fishing revenue.
Among the potential solutions discussed by state officials is the installation of an oxygen diffusion system at the hatchery, which AGFC Trout Management Program Coordinator Christy Graham has said could cost tens of millions of dollars. Boozman said the visit will focus on gathering input from stakeholders on hatchery operations enhancements, with a focus on the local, state and federal partnership needed to ensure the fishery’s long-term viability.
