Damn, that’s interesting!

The Utah division of wildlife resources has released video footage showing planes dropping small fish from the air into the lakes below. The fish – which are usually between 1 and 3 inches () long and include rainbow trout, cutthroat trout, brook trout, tiger trout, splake and Arctic grayling – are specifically raised for fishing. They are dropped into fishless lakes that do not have any natural reproduction, and they are often sterile. Utah’s DWR says this allows the state to control their numbers and does not affect any native fish populations. This method of stocking, in which the small fish can survive the high fall because of their size, has been used since the 1950s. According to the UDWR, aerial restocking is quicker and less stressful for the fish than the earlier method of bringing the fish to the high locations in milk cans on horses.