Barrie MNR Meeting, Sat Sept 26th

[Familyfisherman]

I attended the Barrie meeting put on by the MNR to discuss/explain the proposed decrease in lake trout stocking. It was an excellent meeting! I'm far from an expert but I will try to summarize the meeting as best I can...

 

Initially I was quite concerned when I heard about this idea -- my main concern was that I thought one of the main ''proofs'' of natural lake trout was simply fishing reports. It isn't. The MNR do netting multiple times each year and have consistently found young, wild trout fry (smaller than the size of the fish they stock), which along with many other measures conclusively shows that the trout are having more success spawning naturally. This is in response to the lower phosphate levels, which in turn results in higher oxygen levels. High phosphate produces more weeds, which, as they die, burn up oxygen. Although I forget the exact unit of measure -- numbers of oxygen below 4% have a large impact on trout being able to spawn successfully. I'll explain it this way -- the trout may still spawn, and the eggs may hatch, but the fry are forced to live up off bottom where all the predatory fish live due to low O2 levels, and they get eaten, so very few survive to adulthood. As O2 levels go up above 4% their survival rate goes up since they have more water to hide in, and at 7% there is no negative impact on the trout whatsoever.

 

So, lots of good news at this meeting. It seems the trout, whitefish and herring are all showing positive signs. They chose trout to lower stocking from 100,000 per year to 50,000 per year for the next 5 years. Why trout and not whitefish, etc? Because trout are a top predator in Lake Simcoe, so an overabundance of them might cause problems in the lake, as it can only sustain so many trout. Whitefish are not a top predator, so they don't have this same impact (as I understand it). They only wanted to do one thing at a time, so the natural choice was lake trout at this point and they will measure the success of this first step going forward.

 

The lower stocking of lake trout is to be reviewed in 2013, and they will act accordingly at this time depending on the results measured. Stocking was brought in to try and stabilize the population that had crashed due to high phosphate and lower O2 -- it has done that, and it appears the lake has improved enough to try and allow the wild fish to become self sustaining, WHICH IS THE GOAL.

 

Special thanks to Jason Borwick from the MNR -- his presentation was very up front and to the point, and I for one learned a great deal.

 

I'm just one person, but in my opinion after hearing all the facts it appears the MNR is acting appropriately and has the best interests of the fishery in mind. I went in feeling unsure, I came out feeling quite positive.

 

Thanks again to all involved!

Kevin

[kickingfrog]

Thanks for that, Kevin. I completely forgot about this meeting.

 

I would hope that this info will be posted on the net at some point (maybe it already is?).

 

It has, and will, take a lot of work by a lot of people and many organizations, but the lake is heading in the right direction.