Producer

The Lemmon family has been continuously farming since settling along the Snake River in 1887, in what was then known as Idaho Territory. True pioneers to the region, our family raised livestock as well as forage and various food crops. Through the years, our family business has remained centered on agriculture and the spring water resources of Southern Idaho, adding aquaculture to our portfolio in the 1960's. Officially incorporated in 1970 as Blind Canyon Aquaranch Inc., we began raising rainbow trout in 1971, adding Idaho white sturgeon in 1988 and steelhead trout in 2018. In 2016, we opened our new processing facility, Idaho Springs Foods, rebranding all of our fish and caviar products under the Idaho Springs name. Today all of the trout and sturgeon processed by Idaho Springs Foods is sourced from the ten small fish farms we operate under the Blind Canyon Aquaranch umbrella. In addition to raising fish, we still farm 600 acres of forage crops for our custom dairy heifer and beef cattle feeding operation, and operate a 1.5 MW hydropower generating plant, making our overall operation a net producer, not consumer, of energy!

Idaho Springs Foods stands for quality, clean flavored, responsibly-farmed Idaho trout and sturgeon. Located in the heart of Idaho’s premier trout and sturgeon farming region, it is the pristine, natural Idaho spring water in which our fish swim that gives our fish and caviar a clean, fresh flavor. All of the fish we process are sourced from our family owned or operated fish farms, and we can trace each to the egg lot and parent. Our fish are chemical-free and humanely-raised without added growth hormones, and processed under strict adherence to HACCP rules. Both our trout and sturgeon are rated as “Best Choice” by Monterey Bay Seafood Watch, a program that sets a globally recognized standard for sustainably sourced and raised seafood. We purchase our fish feed from third-party certified local and regional companies, ensuring that ingredients, particularly the small amount of included marine fish meal, are harvested responsibly.

At the local level, we remain committed to protecting Idaho’s water and fish resources through adherence to state and federal environmental regulations, as well as our 35-year cooperation with IDFG’s native sturgeon enhancement program. Conservation of both the fish and water resources is important to the success of our business, now and into the future. Thus, family members continue to serve on the boards of several state and regional aquaculture, farming, recharge and other water-related organizations. We compost the waste from the processing plant and recycle it, along with liquid waste siphoned from the fish ponds, as fertilizer on our forage crop and pasture grounds. We then use the forage crops we raise to custom feed replacement heifers for a local dairy.

From pond to plate, our family is proud to offer your family Idaho Springs steelhead trout, rainbow trout and Idaho white sturgeon.