Dedicated efforts restoring salmon

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Dedicated efforts restoring salmon

Tuesday January 29 2008

caledonenterprise.com

 

 

Dear Editor:

 

The last one was seen in a tributary to Lake Ontario 110 years ago in 1898. It was an Atlantic Salmon, a species that had been native to the Great Lake since the initial post-glacial marine population of this body of water. It was extirpated in less that half a century.

 

It is hard to believe this fish was abundant when our forefathers settled this area only a few generations ago.

 

Early pioneer settlement, however, brought with it, clear-cutting, dams, mills and unregulated fishing that literally wreaked havoc on salmon-dependant watersheds on the north shores of Lake Ontario. The effects of habitat loss were insurmountable for this wonderful species of fish and it simply disappeared.

 

The good news is that the story doesn't end here. It has come alive, through community-minded and environmentally-conscious citizens, who have united and are making a difference.

 

At a recent Palgrave Rotary meeting, the guest speaker was Chris Robinson from the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters Association (OFAH). Chris is the programme co-ordinator for the Atlantic Salmon Restoration Project for Lake Ontario. The OFAH together with key sponsorships, clubs, schools and government is in the process of turning back time.

 

Under the leadership of the OFAH, a partnership was developed in 2005 and a four-part plan was put into play. It was based on an audacious goal to restore a self-sustaining population of Atlantic Salmon to Lake Ontario.

 

Key accomplishments to date include; the completion of 25 stream rehabilitation projects; the release of 707,000 fish; outreach activities that involve 21 public schools raising salmon; and concentrated hatchery support from the MNR, three clubs and Fleming College. The 2008 activities will see the release and assessment of another 800,000 fish along with 20 incremental public school classroom hatcheries.

 

Thanks to this outstanding effort, the day is fast approaching when we will witness an abundance of Atlantic Salmon, what our forefathers first saw when they reached the shores and tributaries of Lake Ontario. It is a wonderful example of the personification of power through caring volunteerism and daring to make a difference!

 

Mike Goddard,

Palgrave Rotary