NORTH BAY—Local fishing enthusiasts and members of the Lake Manitou and Area Association (LMAA) are welcoming news provided by the Minister of Natural Resources (MNR) last week that the province is constructing a new building for raising walleye at the Blue Jay Creek Fish Culture Station in Tehkummah. The new facility is set to increase the production of walleye by as much as 600 percent annually to meet the ministry’s current stocking needs.
“It is exciting news for the Island and positive going forward,” stated Mike Costigan, president of the LMAA.
“That’s huge,” stated Peter Hutchinson, an LMAA member. “They (MNR) must be looking at a pretty big building to construct.”
The Ontario government is investing over $75 million to update Ontario’s fish hatchery program to provide better fishing opportunities across the province. Infrastructure upgrades are planned for three critical fish culture stations to increase the production of key fish species and support fish stocking efforts. These upgrades include the construction of a new building for raising walleye at the Blue Jay Creek Fish Culture Station; improvements to the North Bay Fish Culture Station to enable stocking of over 555,000 high-demand fish, including brook trout, lake trout and rainbow trout; as well upgrades at the Hill’s Lake Fish Culture Station in Englehart to increase its capacity to raise and stock over 530,000 popular fish including splake and aurora trout.
“These investments are great news for fishing enthusiasts across Ontario,” said Graydon Smith, minister of natural resources in making the announcement. “We are modernizing Ontario’s world-class fish culture and stocking program making sure we are best positioned to meet current and future needs. These improvements will contribute to the sustainable management of fish populations and add to the economic and social benefits of fishing in Ontario.”
Planned improvements include replacing aging infrastructure with modern equipment, increasing capacity for growing larger fish to enhance the number of fish available to anglers and making operations more efficient and cost effective in part by reducing energy consumption. Fish are raised in fish culture stations prior to being released into lakes to support fishing and conservation. Fish stocking improves recreational fishing by providing more fish such as walleye, salmon and trout in easy to access waterbodies, including urban angling locations.
The Blue Jay Creek Fish Culture Station dates back to 1937 as a bass hatchery in Sandfield. The station typically stocks 50-100 waterbodies a year in Northeastern and central Ontario. Most fish are stocked in Fisheries Management Zones 10, 14, 15 and 16.
Blue Jay Creek currently raises and stocks 700,000-1,000,000 fish annually, consisting of lake trout, splake and walleye.
The new walleye building will use modern techniques to allow walleye to be reared in greater numbers. It is expected to increase the biomass of walleye the ministry stocks by 600 percent to meet the ministry’s current stocking needs.
This increase in production will allow the ministry to rehabilitate fisheries and create new angling opportunities which have corresponding economic and social benefits.
Peter Addison, section general manager, MNR fish culture stations, talked to The Expositor concerning when the building construction is slated to take place. “We do not at this point have an exact timeline as to when the construction will take place for the three projects. First, we will need to get detailed design work completed, and once this takes place the projects would go out for tenders followed by the selection of the bidder chosen to construct the building. I would anticipate the construction would take place in late 2026 or early 2027.”
“The ministry understands the public interest in the announcements and investments made this week in infrastructure and the benefits of being able to raise and stock more fish,” said Mr. Addison. “As for the new walleye building at Blue Jay Creek I would say it will be a good sized building but would not characterize it as going to be huge. The new building will be located at the Sandfield site. It will operate along with the other buildings at Blue Jay Creek including the main structure where cold water species like Lake Trout and Splake are raised.” He pointed out that the Blue Jay Creek station raises and stocks between 700,000-1,000,000 million lake trout, splake and walleye annually.
“In terms of the new production numbers increasing, the ministry has made no decisions where (waterbodies) they will all be stocked,” said Mr. Addison. “Once the building is up it will be about five years before it is in full production. After that, more consideration will be given as to where the fish will be stocked.” He explained these decisions will be made through the fisheries management plan process, which each region in the province goes through. Then the Fisheries Management Zone councils provide and get input and advice on how the management of fish to be carried out in each zone is completed, and the final plans are then incorporated for each fishery management zone.”
Mr. Addison stressed as well, “an important piece of the fishery management plans being completed is that it includes input from a number of local stakeholders such as those involved in fishing, tourism, non-Indigenous and Indigenous people and members of the public. My understanding is that there have been discussions between the MNR and local stakeholders taking place considering if stocking of walleye will be considered in Lake Manitou. Our MNR personnel in an area look at the fisheries management plans, the status of the lake, species that are there and conditions. Sometimes stocking of a waterbody is an initiative that is taken and sometimes it isn’t.”
Mr. Addison said the final decision on stocking comes from the MNR district level, working with its partners and the local and area offices.
“Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) members and affiliate clubs are very enthusiastic about the MNR’s announcement to invest significant dollars into Ontario’s hatchery program,” said Matt DeMille, executive director OFAH. “Stocking is an important fisheries management tool that can provide diverse angling opportunities, help rehabilitate depleted stocks and divert angling effort away from more sensitive fisheries. To get the most out of these important infrastructure upgrades, MNR will need to evaluate the performance of its entire stocking program and establish FMZ-level stocking strategies to benefit fisheries and enhance the angler experience.”
Laurie Marcil, executive director Northern Ontario Tourist Outfitters Association said, “Through our lodge and resorts in Northern Ontario, over 400,000 resident and non-resident anglers visit annually to enjoy fishing experiences. These visits contribute over $50 million to Ontario’s GDP. This investment, along with science-based fishing regulations from the province help to ensure Ontario can maintain high quality fisheries that will continue to draw resident and non-resident anglers from around the world to our northern lakes and rivers. Tourism operators will continue to encourage conservation fishing experiences to support sustainable fish populations. We are pleased to see this level of investment and thank those that work at these fish hatcheries for their dedication.”
“It’s good news that they are doing all of this,” said Mr. Hutchinson. “Currently the ministry takes pickerel spawn out of Lake Manitou and are not putting any fish back in the lake.” He said providing more fish being reared (and hopefully some being stocked) in Lake Manitou will provide more fishing opportunities and in turn more tourists to the Island. “A lot of people come to the Island for fishing and to vacation here. And when they are here, they are going to spend money on food, gas and accommodations, which benefits our businesses and the economy.”
Mr. Costigan explained an LMAA committee had a second meeting with MNR Sudbury area representatives recently. “In our discussions they made an offer of providing 3,000 yearling walleye being stocked back in the lake (Manitou) next spring. We also brought forward the idea of maybe not taking walleye spawn out of Lake Manitou, and to take walleye eggs out of other Island lakes that they already stock walleye in. At the end of the day, we were pleased that they made the offer, and we will be doing some research between now and our March meeting into what a reasonable number of walleye yearlings would be appropriate to stock in Lake Manitou. LMAA would like to see a long-term commitment to stocking of Lake Manitou taking place.”
