Haliburton Hatchery News Volume 2 Issue 1
Winter 2017
Volunteer of the Year Ron Sedley was the unanimous choice for the first Jim Cardinell Hatchery Volunteer of the Year Award. Jim was a long time volunteer who worked tirelessly at the hatchery. Ron has been involved with the hatchery for 17 years and his dedication, knowledge and enthusiasm are unsurpassed. Ron Sedley accepts his award
Fin Clipping We had a great turnout of approximately 25 volunteers in mid January to fin clip our 10,000 Haliburton Gold Lake Trout that we raised from eggs after they were collected in October, 2015. Many thanks as well to the great folks from the MNRF who helped out. The fish are anesthetized prior to having a fin clipped and it does not effect them. Every year a different fin is clipped on raised fish so we can tell what year they were stocked. If you see a fish with no fins clipped then chances are that fish has reproduced naturally. Many thanks to the MNRF and our great volunteers.
What’s New at the Hatchery? We have a full inventory at the hatchery right now. We have 20,000 Rainbow in our pond. Our inside tanks are full with 10,000 Haliburton Gold Lake Trout raised from eggs collected in 2015 and close to 10,000 Haliburton Gold Lake Trout fry raised from eggs collected last year. We also have 3,500 Manitou Lake Trout. Our fry are doing very well. In the coming days they will have to be hand fed for eight hours a day, seven days a week until they are ready to be fed by the automatic feeders. Our tours continue to do very well. We had over 500 people tour our facility in the last six months. Our tours are free and are from 10:00 to 2:00 on the first Saturday of every month and every Saturday in July and August. We also will do tours upon special request. Our next tour date is Saturday, February 4 and we will also be doing tours for the Frost Festival on Saturday, February 18.
Ron Sedley checks out our Haliburton Gold Lake Trout Fry
New Egg Collection Video Matt Burley of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) let us know that the Community Hatchery Program (CHP) is proud to present the first episode of the new video series called Hooked on Hatcheries! This episode highlights the process of lake trout egg collection, filmed when Matt came out with our volunteers in October of last year. Matt did a great job on the video. Please check it out on their YouTube page link at www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikd5vKxpSjM&sns=em . You can also view it on the CHP Facebook page.
Question For The Day Is it me or does the hatchery sound quieter with Jack Jackson away?
What’s Planned for 2017 ??? Last year was a great year. We made huge improvements to the property and infrastructure. We formed partnerships with other organizations. We participated in community events. Our tours have been a great success and we published brochures and a newsletter. Our volunteers cleaned boat launches and ramps. We stocked 39% of the fish in the County. We also started a very ambitious project—to reopen our walking trails that had fallen into a complete state of disrepair. So, what is next? Well we need to finish the walking trails in time for Canada Day as they will be our gift to the community. We also need to repair the walleye shed before it falls down. There are also a number of different repairs and updates that need to be done. The Board has applied for a number of grants that we hope will come through as other projects such as rebuilding the portable and updating the walleye pond need to be done. We need to build upon our successes last year and we will be able to do this thanks to our great volunteers, the MNRF, OFAH and the community.
Making Sure Our Volunteers Have Fun Our Christmas Party was a great success. Jack Jackson and Dan Smith did a great job organizing it and thanks to Audrey Sedley for the wonderful music. Kent MacDonald and Jon Archibald have started a fishing club for the hatchery volunteers. The first event is at Blue Hawk Lake on February 2, followed by Kennisis Lake on February 9 and Buttermilk Falls on February 15. Speak to Kent or Jon, the “Fishing Magicians” for more information. We are also looking to tour OFAH’s headquarters in Peterborough, visit the elk herd in Bancroft, tour other hatcheries and go to the Toronto Sportsman show in March. Jack Jackson will be organizing other activities when he returns from down south.
Please contact the HHOA if you wish to volunteer or donate. We need your support. Join us and
Haliburton Highlands Outdoors Association 6712 Gelert Road, Haliburton, ON, K0M IS0 Phone: 705-457-9664 Fax: 705-457–9503 Web Site: www.hhoa.on.ca Email: hhoa@bellnet.ca
have some fun. Our Members Fishing
Brandon and Kent MacDonald
Bruce Miller
Ron Sedley
Dan Smith