Jim McFee (MFWP) locates the Potomac School’s adopted westslope cutthroat trout near its spawning area.

Montana’s Adopt-A-Fish Program integrates research projects in western, central and eastern Montana to educational programs that promote native and sport fish conservation. These programs link research emphasizing native fish to schoolchildren in rural Montana schools.

Each project offers a unique opportunity for students to become involved with real research projects. Through a combination of field trips, classroom lessons, and the website, students are exposed to a variety of academic disciplines. By tracking fish implanted with radio transmitters on this website, students learn about ecology, the perils facing native and wild fish, as well as the wonders of Montana’s natural resources.

Program Projects

• Adopt-A-Trout—Blackfoot/Clark Fork Rivers. The Blackfoot Watershed is home to many unique fish and wildlife species including native westslope cutthroat trout and bull trout.  Conservation education and habitat restoration efforts are currently underway to restore and protect these native fish. [Learn more]
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• Sun River—Central Montana. This Adopt-A-Fish program investigates how agricultural demands for water affect a river system and how fish survive in a heavily used river. Visitors to this website will be able to track the movements of fish, implanted with radio transmitters. School groups will find out how to adopt a fish and ask questions of fisheries biologists. We hope the results of this project will help us find ways to improve the fishery of the Sun River while maintaining a healthy agricultural economy. [Learn more]
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• Missouri River—Eastern Montana. Missouri River Adopt-A-Fish will embark on its third year of allowing school classrooms and others to follow radio-implanted fish on the Missouri River of Montana and North Dakota, between Fort Peck Dam and the headwaters of Lake Sakakawea. [Learn more]