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SPRINGVILLE, Utah (AP) -- Five thousand trout, among 900,000 fish being removed from the Springville hatchery because of a whirling disease outbreak, are being given away by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources this week.
Beginning Monday, those with fishing licenses and children under 14 may pick up a bag of eight frozen trout, one bag per person, at the Springville DWR office.
Several dozen volunteers gathered at the hatchery on Saturday to clean the fish and remove their heads so the fish could be frozen.
The free fish are available only while supplies last and could run out in two to three days.
All 900,000 fish from the Springville hatchery are being removed, given away or destroyed because of the outbreak of whirling disease that was discovered in April, said Dale Liechty of the DWR.
Eating fish infected with whirling disease poses no known health risks to humans, said Tim Miles, fish culture coordinator for the DWR.
"To put the public at ease, I want them to know that I recently had a fish meal from a private fish hatchery that was infected with whirling disease, and those were some of the best trout I've ever eaten," he said.
About 600,000 rainbow trout that are too small to be cleaned will be destroyed and taken to a landfill, where they will be used for compost.
About 215,000 fingerling trout from Springville's indoor hatchery have tested negative for whirling disease and will be stocked into Otter Creek and Piute reservoirs, both of which have tested positive for whirling disease.
The disease causes fish to spin and deforms them, causing them to eventually starve to death.
Both Hobble Creek and Provo River are known to be infected with the disease.
Recovering from the outbreak is expected to cost the hatchery at least $2 million. A water treatment system sensitive enough to remove all disease spores must be built, and all raceways where the fish live must be sterilized after the fish are removed.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
