Community School Micro Fish Hatchery Project

August 2018

The French River Stewardship Council (FRSC) has taken on the development of a ‘Community School Micro Fish Hatchery’ project in partnership with l’École secondaire de la Rivière-des-Français in Noëlville, in an effort to provide an educational opportunity for the students and to sustain the walleye and trout fishery in local waters. Please see ‘Talking Notes’ that provide additional details of this Project.

Rolly Frappier, who is a member of the United Walleye Club, has spearheaded the development of the fish hatchery project and has built and installed several hatcheries through out the region. Please visit to following link to view why and how he has developed this program:

MICRO-HATCHERIES Inc

Link:  http://www.waubetek.com/upload/documents/micro-hatcheries-power-point-presentatio.pdf

FRSC is currently raising funds ($15,000) to get the hatchery established in the High School. I am please to note that currently there is a foundation willing to donate $6,000 and a local resident $1,500. They are both willing to make these donations based on the local community and/or businesses matching these funds.

Therefore, with your support by matching these donations we will be able to get the project up and running. Any monies above the start up cost will be used to sustain and expand the project over the next several years.

All donations to the hatchery project over $20 will receive a taxable donation receipt. The FRSC has an agreement with the French River Public Library to utilize their taxable donation number.

Donations can be made electronically as indicated in the talking notes or you can send me an email or call me and I will be happy to come over and answer any questions or listen to any suggestions you may have on the project and pick up any donations you may be willing to make.

Cheques should be made out to the French River Public Library with the memo portion of the cheque indicating it is for the Fish Hatchery Project. Please provide your address, phone number and email address so that the library can issue you a taxable donation receipt.

We will be providing updates on the Fish Hatchery Project on the FRSC website: www.frenchriverstewardship.ca . We will also try and arrange some open houses at l’École secondaire de la Rivière-des-Français in Noëlville so that any person that has donated will be able to view the Hatcher and hear a presentation by the students.

Let’s all get behind this Project in an effort to sustain our local fish communities.

Steve Grinius, Director, FRSC

Telephone: (306) 914-0070 or Text

Steven.grinius@outlook.com

Your partner in water protection!

Talking Notes on Micro Fish Hatchery

The French River Stewardship Council (FRSC) is currently working with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNR&F), l’École secondaire de la Rivière-des-Français (Noëlville) and both municipal Public Libraries (Alban and Noëlville) towards the goal of bringing a Community School Micro Fish Hatchery to French River.

The reason for this is two-fold:

1. To provide up to 10,000 fingerlings each year, of both walleye and trout to be introduced to the French River and several local lakes.

2. To provide a teaching tool for high school students on the life cycle of fish and the importance the environment plays on the continued sustainability of fish stocks.

Cost of the Micro Fish Hatchery would be approximately $15,000 with annual operating costs of approximately $500.00/year.  The Hatchery would be manufactured in the Sudbury area and installed by the supplier in the l’École secondaire de la Rivière-des-Français in Noëlville.

Proposed Operation of Micro Fish Hatchery:

• The MNR&F is to provide up to 10,000 fertilized trout eggs in the fall and a further 10,000 fertilized walleye eggs in the spring

• The students will be taught and graded on the operation of the equipment which is to include large bell jars, a pumping and filtration system, a trinocular microscope, a digital camera and a dedicated laptop.  This will allow the students to document the various stages of development of the fish.

• The students will learn to use the equipment to control and monitor the growth of the fish including the circulating water oxygen levels, temperatures, flow, PH and the filtration equipment.

• The fall and spring operations would last from 5 to 7 weeks each.

• The fingerlings would then be released into local bodies of water as authorised by the MNR&F.

With this project the FRSC is hoping to instill in our youth, and the general public, the importance of our environment and how critical this is to our wildlife.  Students will learn how sensitive fish are to temperature, PH, oxygen levels and the quality of the water they are living in.

The hatchery would be a step towards increasing the stocks of specific fish in the French River and certain surrounding lakes.

From field studies it has been shown that the success rate of raising fingerlings from fertilised eggs in the wild is only about 40%.  This compares to 90% when raised in a hatchery.

Fingerlings, whether raised in the wild or in a hatchery only have a 3% chance of reaching maturity. During this period many fish are lost due to natural causes, fishing practices and being eaten by predator fish.

It takes between 5 and 6 years for walleye to reach maturity.  A mature female can produce 30,000 or more eggs each spawning season.  By increasing the number of fingerlings each year, we increase the number of fish able to reach maturity and spawn. This increases the sustainability of our fish stocks.

The FRSC, in partnership with the MNR&F (who provides the permits) and with the support of the community will continue to rehabilitate spawning beds and create new ones.  The FRSC is also involved in monitoring the quality of the water in our main waterway by taking samples for analysis each month from May to November.  Fourteen locations are sampled between the Ouellette Rapids and Georgian Bay Delta.  Other environmental monitoring in the region will continue.

You can write a cheque payable to: French River Public Library and mail it to:

French River Stewardship Council

c/o Carl Bisaillon, Treasurer, FRSC

RR #1, Site 11, Box 2

Alban, Ontario

P0M 1A0

You may pay by bank e-Transfer to the FRSC via our email address.  A receipt by email will follow.

Note: only donations over $20 toward the Community School Fish Hatchery Project is tax deductible.

E-Transfer Information

Donation:                          enter $ amount

Name:                                French River Stewardship

Contact Method:             by email

Email Address:                frenchriverstewardshipcouncil@gmail.com

Security Question:          FRSC

Security Answer:             water

Message box:                   Micro Fish Hatchery Donation

Donor Information

Name: ____________________________________________________

Home Address: _____________________________________________

Mailing Address:   ___________________________________________

City: _______________            Province/State: _______     Postal/ZIP Code:  __________

Telephone:   _____________     Email Address:      _______________________________