The hatchery was constructed in 1967 by Idaho Power Company (IPC) and is owned and funded by IPC. Hatchery operations and management is the responsibility of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG). The summer chinook and summer steelhead programs are IPC's mitigation obligation under the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for anadromous fish losses caused by the construction and operation of the Hells Canyon Complex (Brownlee, Oxbow, and Hell's Canyon dams) on the Snake River. Due to the 1992 listing of Snake River summer chinook salmon (Onchorhynchus tshawytscha) as threatened under the Federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), the Pahsimeroi Fish Hatchery has shifted from a fishery mitigation program to a supplementation-conservation program.
The number of adult chinook salmon released into the Pahsimeroi River for natural spawning, as well as the number of those kept at the hatchery for artificial propagation, depends on marked and unmarked fish returns and their listing status. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) permits #922 and #903 authorize the direct and incidental take of listed, naturally produced and artificially propagated summer chinook salmon and steelhead.