by Margery Frisch
SHEGUIANDAH—The old hatchery of the Little Current and District Fish and Game Club, located down by the White Haven Cottages in Sheguiandah, is getting a face-lift.
“It was sinking into the ground,” said Lou Shortt, president of the club. “So, we’re raising it and putting a foundation under it. And we’re going to build up-to-date equipment to raise fry, to put back into the Great Lakes’ system. That is our plan.”
“The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) has donated $3,000 and we’re hoping that will cover the cost of our cement,” Mr. Shortt shared. “AOK has donated a sizeable amount of money also, and this lumber was donated by Pine Hill Lumber in Lively. NEMI has also donated $2,000. We’ve got some really good sponsors helping us out. Unfortunately, though we applied to the OFAH in April, we didn’t get notification back from them till the end of August, so, we’re a little bit behind the eight ball with this project.”
On the day The Expositor caught up with the president, he was down to a skeleton crew. “A lot of our members hunt and right now, we’re right into moose season,” he explained. “Three weeks ago, they were all here, ready to help, but now they’re gone. We’ll have a bunch of guys here on Monday when we pour the foundation, though.”
The hatchery was built by Bill Strain’s father around 1939, and Bill, the former president of the fish and game club, and former owner of White Haven Cottages, started a fishery out of the building.
“The new owners of White Haven (Mr. Strain’s daughter and son-in-law) are equally supportive of this project, but Bill is like the founding father of this whole thing,” Mr. Shortt said.
“The last six years, we haven’t had very much luck with the walleye coming back into the creek here and one of the reasons for that is commercial fishing,” he shared. “We fight every year with the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) to try to get the commercial fishery to send money our way, if they aren’t going to stock themselves. But that’s an uphill battle.
“We got 120,000 fry from Blue Jay Creek, where we have two ponds, but this year we only managed to get about 60,000 fry out of 120,000 for the simple reason that we have a predator: a stickleback minnow,” the president explained. “When they get into the pond, they eat the fry. We’re hoping to take the left-over cement from this project,” he said, indicating to the volunteers hard at work on the hatchery, “and use it up at the pond to stop it from leaking. That’s another project we’re working on, all on a volunteer basis.”
In the spring, the fish and game club, in partnership with Manitoulin Streams, runs an educational program. All the Grade 4s from all over the Island come to learn about fry, and how they get to that point. They learn about predators of the fish, and about the water system. Manitoulin Streams is a tremendous help with this program, and at the end of the day each child goes home with a fishing rod.
Of course, the club is always trying to build membership. Younger members are busy with the going concerns of their children and it’s hard to commit to the club, and Mr. Shortt understands that well, he was there once himself. At least a dozen or more members are from the United States: Michigan and Ohio, mostly. They are very active members, but only for about three weeks out of the year. The average age of the club members is up there—mid-60s plus—but they’re an enthusiastic bunch and they do a tremendous amount for the lakes, and for the Island.
Anyone interested in joining the Little Current and District Fish and Game Club can find them on Facebook. Reach out.
“It’s very rewarding,” said Mr. Shortt.
