The old Whiterocks Fish Hatchery 30 miles northwest of Roosevelt is getting a makeover.

Gone is the old, dilapidated, white, wooden hatchery building built in 1923. So are the old office/storage building and three sets of old, crumbling, concrete raceways.

What's there now is a $6 million construction project, with a new building, new raceways and state-of-the-art equipment.

What it means, said Ron Morrill, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources hatchery manager, is "we will be able to triple our production."

The old hatchery could raise 45,000 pounds of fish under prime conditions. The new one should produce more than 130,000 pounds of fish.

"There will be fewer outside raceways, but the new ones will be wider and better designed, so they will have about the same amount of space, but they will raise more fish," said Morrill. "It's in our new building, and some new technology, that we see the greatest changes."

The new building contains a main room with 42 new troughs. There's enough space in the building that a truck can be driven into the center of it. This provides easy access to the troughs and makes it easier for hatchery personnel to move fish, equipment and other materials.

"Each of the new troughs is worth about six of the old ones, and there were only 12 troughs in the old building," he added.

"Another room contains water columns and trays for hatching eggs. The large interior bay will allow us to work on trucks and other equipment, and then we have an office space and a couple of small storerooms for fish food and other things. The bulk of our fish food will be stored in another storage facility close to the outside raceways."

The hatchery's improved technology includes an oxygenation system and baffles.

"The entire fish rearing facility is tied into an oxygenation system," Morrill said. "A major limitation to fish production is the amount of oxygen available in the water. The more fish, the more dissolved oxygen is needed. Our system will allow us to inject oxygen into the water to maintain the oxygen at a high level, which translates to healthier fish and increased production.

"Another improvement is the baffles, which direct water flow along the bottom to waste collection areas and then up over walls to spill into the next raceway holding area. The baffles will help increase oxygen levels while making it easier to remove waste and clean the troughs and raceways."

The Whiterocks hatchery is already raising some fish and should be in full production by late spring 2007.