TOM PRUITT
Inducted 1992
When Tom Pruitt joined the Garrison Dam National Fish Hatchery in 1995, it evolved into the largest walleye and northern pike hatchery in the world and has more than tripled its annual production of the two species.
Although Pruitt was instrumental in upgrading of the hatchery facility in a joint effort involving the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, he will be best remembered for his efforts to regenerate production of the pallid sturgeon and shovelnose paddlefish in the upper Missouri River system. He felt those two species would become extinct unless measures were taken to research life cycles and improve reproduction. His management, planning, and research led to the development of a reproduction program that is creating new fish for stocking in the upper Missouri system and will continue to generate fish for future generations.
Also, during the course of this management of the hatchery, a joint state-federal cooperative agreement provided funding for updating and expansion of the facility, making it one of the most modern and efficient hatcheries in the country.
Inducted 1992
When Tom Pruitt joined the Garrison Dam National Fish Hatchery in 1995, it evolved into the largest walleye and northern pike hatchery in the world and has more than tripled its annual production of the two species.
Although Pruitt was instrumental in upgrading of the hatchery facility in a joint effort involving the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, he will be best remembered for his efforts to regenerate production of the pallid sturgeon and shovelnose paddlefish in the upper Missouri River system. He felt those two species would become extinct unless measures were taken to research life cycles and improve reproduction. His management, planning, and research led to the development of a reproduction program that is creating new fish for stocking in the upper Missouri system and will continue to generate fish for future generations.
Also, during the course of this management of the hatchery, a joint state-federal cooperative agreement provided funding for updating and expansion of the facility, making it one of the most modern and efficient hatcheries in the country.