Fish Breeders of Idaho
Fish Breeders of Idaho was built from the water up by Leo and Judy Ray. Leo became the first to 
raise catfish in Idaho in concrete raceways and later the first to commercially raise tilapia in the United States. More than fifty years later, Fish Breeders of Idaho now plans to continue their growth with a new generation at the helm.
Since opening their fish farm in 1973, Fish Breeders of Idaho has grown into a vertically integrated business. The farm itself does everything from spawning to harvesting, processing,
and marketing – feed production being the most recent. Looking to improve their feed production plant, Fish Breeders of Idaho started their search for financing. They turned to the assistance of the Idaho Small Business Development Center where they met consultant Jerry Mottern. Jerry advised them on how to interpret their financial statements and enter transactions into their financial records.
After consulting with Idaho SBDC, Fish Breeders of Idaho felt confident in submitting their financial statements with their loan application. “Lending agencies were hesitant to loan to us. They knew nothing about the fish industry. I could not find a bank that I felt would be a good fit for the business. Jerry and the Idaho Small Business Development Center at CSI [helped us find] that bank,” said Leo.
With their loan request approved, they are excited to move forward with their feed plant improvements and continue operations into the future with Leo’s granddaughter Krista Dace at the wheel.
“Working with Jerry (Idaho SBDC), we’ve been able to fix the issues that have developed over the decades with QuickBooks and make them make sense for the modern day,” said Krista. Krista grew up sitting by Leo’s chair listening to his stories about the fish farm. After graduating from the University of Idaho in 2019, Krista returned to work in the business full-time. She is now in line to be CEO. Both Leo and Krista are excited to fine tune their production and further develop the projects Leo has started over the years. They plan to continue working with the Small Business Development Center to ensure their business’s financial stability going forward into the future.
Learn More about Fish Breeders of Idaho
Get the downloadable success story pdf here
South Central Idaho SBDC Success Story, 2025
Hagerman, ID
