Micro Hatchery Update – Successful release of Fry – June 2019

French River Stewardship Council Fish Micro Hatchery News Letter

In August 2018, The French River Stewardship Council (FRSC) commenced 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.

The Micro Fish Hatchery was successfully installed at l’École secondaire de la Rivière-des-Français on Monday December 17^th, 2018 by Rolly Frappier with assistance from students.  Rolly is a member of the United Walleye Club and has built and installed several hatcheries throughout the region.

Following a small period of acclimatization, 10,000 brook trout eggs were installed in the Micro Hatchery on January 9, 2019.  Conditions within the Micro Hatchery were closely monitored by the students so that the eggs would hatch later in the spring and the resulting fry would be released into a local water body.  However, the first batch of trout eggs that were incubated in the micro hatchery from Jan to Feb 2019 was not successful due to a power outage that lead to the ultimate demise of the batch.

A second batch of eggs was secured for another attempt.  This time, roughly 50,000 pickerel eggs were installed in the Micro Hatchery.  This time, the incubation was successful and The French River Stewardship Council (FRSC), in partnership with École secondaire de la Rivière-des-Français successfully released over 50,000 pickerel eggs and fry into Trout Lake on June 6, 2019. The June 6 release marks the first success of the micro hatchery, with many more to come in future.

This entire project was made possible through the generous donations from local businesses and individuals.  The FRSC would like to thank all those contributing time and moneys to this worthwhile project.  A plaque has been installed at the Micro Hatchery acknowledging all business and individuals who generously donated to the Micro Hatchery.

FRSC would also like to thank Alain Noël, principal of École secondaire de la Rivière-des-Français for his strong ongoing support of the Micro Hatchery.

For more information and to monitor the progress of this project, please visit our website at www.frenchriverstewardship.ca or visit us on Facebook at French River Stewardship Council