OFAH

[Rich]

i bet ofah has accomplished far more than this thread.

 

LOL

[spinnerbaitking]

Getting more kids involved in Fishing & Hunting is the best way to take everyone on, with out the youth we will lose,

TAKE A KIDS FISHING OR HUNTING, Start in class hatcheries or what ever

SBK

[irishfield]

Yah got that right SBK

 

 

[LeXXington]

I have a membership and will each year.

 

(1) I like the fishing mag they send out, full of information and for the cost of a membership its a good deal.

 

(2) I wish I had time to push the government on more issues but like most pointed out if its one person the government ignores, 1000 people they at least listen to what you have to say.

 

Trust me I sent so many letters over the HST / etc.. got me no where.

 

OFAH is more business these days than a voice but is there an alternative?

[chessy]

i bet ofah has accomplished far more than this thread.

 

i bet this thread did accomplish something .. it may made people go to a meeting just to find out what is going on out there

[mercman]

Dude the letter to the Prime Minister is good for 2007, how'd he make out hahahahahaha

 

the Website again makes me sick, there a group who are trying to be the voice of our resources and what do I see Hats/ t-shirts/ CRAP ! come on we need a voice not a sales page. Loging on to the website only makes my digruntlness further. They sell shirts& crap sell us the anglers& hunters thats what the OFAH was incorporated to do. If you want to be a voice do it , don't use it to line your pockets. DAN tell me from looking at that website you can't see the comercialism, the voice crap is second to the nice hats/ shirts. Dude OFAH is a freaking scam

 

 

ya right DUDE

[Steve Lynas]

My name is Steve Lynas and I am a member of the Metro East Anglers and have been one for approximately 6 to 7 years now.

 

For those that do not know us we are the host club at the Ringwood Fish Culture Station. We are always looking for volunteers and I would welcome anyone from this site that would like to help raise the entire alotment of Ontario's Chinook Salmon for Lake O.

 

A regular member of the club mentioned this thread and suggested to me that there maybe some misinformation/misconception or what have you on the subject of OFAH and Ringwood. I will first state that the following is my opinion and does not necessarily reflect those of any other club members. That disclaimer being said I have been involved quite actively since we started the partnership with the OFAH in 2006. I am not supporting or denouncing the OFAH's value as a conservation goup as a whole. It is fair to say they have many, many issues province wide and Lake Ontario Chinook Salmon Fishing is but one small one of many. However I can not help but feel that the recent way our club was dealt with during the closure discussions leaves this OFAH member feeling truly unrepresented.

 

Anyway let me set the record straight on a few post here.

 

moemoe states,

"OFAH did an Admirable Job running Ringwood the last 5 years"

 

Yes and No. It is true that the OFAH brokered the original 5 year lease with the MNR and for that Lake Ontario Salmon Fisherman should indeed be grateful. There is no doubt the place would have shut down with no real decent plan for the 540K annual Chinook stocking Program for Lake O if not for their intervention. However the volunteers, hosted by the Metro East Anglers, have been a very significant part of the Ringwood success story and trust me it has been an overwhelming success. Check stocking numbers for Chinook overthe last four years and this year is shaping up to be the best one yet. So successful was our team that we offered up an extra 100K Salmon to the Americans last year when they missed quota. They were stocked in the Niagara River, Canadian side of coarse.

 

Before the Metro East Anglers were even allowed to work at the hatchery we were forced to purchase their memberships and still do annually weather we like it or not. Some Bull about insurance. So in that sense it is fair to say that the OFAH has done an admirable job. Since they forced us to purchase a quantity of memberships prior to allowing us to work for them for free. They hired a full time Hatchery Coordinator who was first and foremost an executive member of the Metro East Anglers. It is his expertise and strong will to do the job right that we have all come to depend on out at Ringwood over these last 4 years.

 

Therefore aside from brokering the original leasing agreement and using some non-profit sponsorship money/membership dues, etc to finance the operation I think it is fair to say their physical involvement was minimal, IMHO.

 

moemoe makes references suchas,

"Improved Feed for Fingerlings...Improvement in Chinook Size"

 

No. In year two the MNR/OFAH decided to switch feed suppliers despite the fact that the Chinook program was using a West Coast feed supplier for years named, EWOS. Quite successfully I might add. The OFAH sited the cost difference as the reason and we started using Corey Aquafeed from the East Coast. We went along with it figuring whats the difference, right. We began to notice that the swim up fry taking food for the first time in their lives, did not do well on the Corey feed. Their growth seemed slow and they generally appeared not as strong/healthy as they had in the past. Later as the season continued bag after bag was full of hugh amounts of fish oils that would rack havoc with the belts on our belt driven feeders. The oil residue on the water was like something out of a bad Gulf BP well.

 

Anyway we lobbied the OFAH to return to the EWOS feed which they refused to do at first. It was only when we offered to pay the difference with donation money to our club that it was re-introduced to the schedule.

 

On a side note: The OFAH felt strongly that we didn't need to solicited donations to our club independently and they were not that pleased when we did. However they had no problem taking the 20% off the top for administration costs on each and every one of those donation we recieved independently.

 

As far as I know for the last two years the Metro East Anglers have been paying most or all the cost associated with this "improved feed". In our opinion this feed is so vitally important to the good health of these fish it should be mandated for used in any future MNR operation that raises Chinook Salmon for Lake Ontario. Good luck with that though.

 

canadadude says,

"Ringwood will survive without OFAH, it is members run hatchery and they run it without publicity"

 

I am not sure what is exactly meant by this statement, but I can tell you that Ringwood is slotted to close June 2011. END OF STORY. Unless the Metro East Anglers can negoitiate with the MNR some type of use for the facility it will stop producing Chinooks and any other species this fall. Presently it is a OFAH members run hatchery for the reason I mention above. It is being run by those forced members as well as any and all good people who just show up because they give a crap and want to be a proactive part of the solution. I must once again acknowledge the Hatchery Coordintor who I have the utmost respect for and although he is indeed compensated for by the OFAH; he could have just as easily spent his retirement years pursuing warm and sunny Casinos to throw his money at. It would have been alot healthy then spending cold winters in a damp, cold hatchery picking dead eggs and fish from tanks because not enough people who often claim they care didn't show up.

 

Chessy states,

"The Ringwood Hatchery raises all the Chinook Salmon that Ontario plants into Lake Ontario. Aswell as several thousand Rainbow annually. Additionally the facility will be supplying all of the Atlantic Salmon that are being re-introduced into the Lake"

 

Yes to all the Chinook Salmon Ontario Plants

Yes to several thousand Rainbow Trout as part of an original Community Fisheries Invovlment Plan (CFIP Program) the Metro EAst Anglers have had for years for the Rouge River stocking program.

 

But the Atlantic claims are false, unless the author knows something I do not about the future use of Ringwood after we are kicked out in the late summer of 2011. I can not speak to this unknown, but what I do know is we have never really raise any significant numbers of Atlantic at Ringwood and have not raised any for several years now.

 

In this post I tried to share some of my personal experiences out at Ringwood with the readers of this website. To perhaps clear up some misunderstandings and offer a members personal experience with the OFAH, for better or worse.

 

It has been my experience that Anglers and Hunters are by and far a very divisive lot. We are divided for many truly stupid reasons and this is what makes us weak. Each year I believe our numbers are getting smaller and as a result politician really don't have to take our wants seriously. There is just not enough votes in it. The OFAH is indeed the largest Non-Profit Conservation orieinted group representing Anglers and Hunters in Ontario. As such, in my opinion, they are like so many election I see these days. We are faced with an election and all the candidates appear wrong for the job, but hey you want to exercise your democratic right to vote, No. So you choose the best of a bad lot or say enny meany miney more. So you cast your vote or in this case buy a membership and while your reading their magazine in the shithouse you say to yourself, "Man their has to be a better way."

 

Come on out to Ringwood and be a part of the most successful Community Involvement program this Province has ever seen. Of coarse I am just speaking of shear stocking numbers which translates into fishing opportunities for all on Lake Ontario. Produced by people who couldn't sit on the crapper any longer saying there has to be a better way. Come on out and just show the Government that this type of community involvement programs is important to you. Maybe someone will see the Unity for a moment and start taking sportmen seriously.

 

Contact Info;

 

Steve Lynas

Metro EAst Angler Volunteer

[email protected]

[Grimace]

Thank you for taking the time. It was a very interesting read.

[chessy]

My name is Steve Lynas and I am a member of the Metro East Anglers and have been one for approximately 6 to 7 years now.

 

For those that do not know us we are the host club at the Ringwood Fish Culture Station. We are always looking for volunteers and I would welcome anyone from this site that would like to help raise the entire alotment of Ontario's Chinook Salmon for Lake O.

 

A regular member of the club mentioned this thread and suggested to me that there maybe some misinformation/misconception or what have you on the subject of OFAH and Ringwood. I will first state that the following is my opinion and does not necessarily reflect those of any other club members. That disclaimer being said I have been involved quite actively since we started the partnership with the OFAH in 2006. I am not supporting or denouncing the OFAH's value as a conservation goup as a whole. It is fair to say they have many, many issues province wide and Lake Ontario Chinook Salmon Fishing is but one small one of many. However I can not help but feel that the recent way our club was dealt with during the closure discussions leaves this OFAH member feeling truly unrepresented.

 

Anyway let me set the record straight on a few post here.

 

moemoe states,

"OFAH did an Admirable Job running Ringwood the last 5 years"

 

Yes and No. It is true that the OFAH brokered the original 5 year lease with the MNR and for that Lake Ontario Salmon Fisherman should indeed be grateful. There is no doubt the place would have shut down with no real decent plan for the 540K annual Chinook stocking Program for Lake O if not for their intervention. However the volunteers, hosted by the Metro East Anglers, have been a very significant part of the Ringwood success story and trust me it has been an overwhelming success. Check stocking numbers for Chinook overthe last four years and this year is shaping up to be the best one yet. So successful was our team that we offered up an extra 100K Salmon to the Americans last year when they missed quota. They were stocked in the Niagara River, Canadian side of coarse.

 

Before the Metro East Anglers were even allowed to work at the hatchery we were forced to purchase their memberships and still do annually weather we like it or not. Some Bull about insurance. So in that sense it is fair to say that the OFAH has done an admirable job. Since they forced us to purchase a quantity of memberships prior to allowing us to work for them for free. They hired a full time Hatchery Coordinator who was first and foremost an executive member of the Metro East Anglers. It is his expertise and strong will to do the job right that we have all come to depend on out at Ringwood over these last 4 years.

 

Therefore aside from brokering the original leasing agreement and using some non-profit sponsorship money/membership dues, etc to finance the operation I think it is fair to say their physical involvement was minimal, IMHO.

 

moemoe makes references suchas,

"Improved Feed for Fingerlings...Improvement in Chinook Size"

 

No. In year two the MNR/OFAH decided to switch feed suppliers despite the fact that the Chinook program was using a West Coast feed supplier for years named, EWOS. Quite successfully I might add. The OFAH sited the cost difference as the reason and we started using Corey Aquafeed from the East Coast. We went along with it figuring whats the difference, right. We began to notice that the swim up fry taking food for the first time in their lives, did not do well on the Corey feed. Their growth seemed slow and they generally appeared not as strong/healthy as they had in the past. Later as the season continued bag after bag was full of hugh amounts of fish oils that would rack havoc with the belts on our belt driven feeders. The oil residue on the water was like something out of a bad Gulf BP well.

 

Anyway we lobbied the OFAH to return to the EWOS feed which they refused to do at first. It was only when we offered to pay the difference with donation money to our club that it was re-introduced to the schedule.

 

On a side note: The OFAH felt strongly that we didn't need to solicited donations to our club independently and they were not that pleased when we did. However they had no problem taking the 20% off the top for administration costs on each and every one of those donation we recieved independently.

 

As far as I know for the last two years the Metro East Anglers have been paying most or all the cost associated with this "improved feed". In our opinion this feed is so vitally important to the good health of these fish it should be mandated for used in any future MNR operation that raises Chinook Salmon for Lake Ontario. Good luck with that though.

 

canadadude says,

"Ringwood will survive without OFAH, it is members run hatchery and they run it without publicity"

 

I am not sure what is exactly meant by this statement, but I can tell you that Ringwood is slotted to close June 2011. END OF STORY. Unless the Metro East Anglers can negoitiate with the MNR some type of use for the facility it will stop producing Chinooks and any other species this fall. Presently it is a OFAH members run hatchery for the reason I mention above. It is being run by those forced members as well as any and all good people who just show up because they give a crap and want to be a proactive part of the solution. I must once again acknowledge the Hatchery Coordintor who I have the utmost respect for and although he is indeed compensated for by the OFAH; he could have just as easily spent his retirement years pursuing warm and sunny Casinos to throw his money at. It would have been alot healthy then spending cold winters in a damp, cold hatchery picking dead eggs and fish from tanks because not enough people who often claim they care didn't show up.

 

Chessy states,

"The Ringwood Hatchery raises all the Chinook Salmon that Ontario plants into Lake Ontario. Aswell as several thousand Rainbow annually. Additionally the facility will be supplying all of the Atlantic Salmon that are being re-introduced into the Lake"

 

Yes to all the Chinook Salmon Ontario Plants

Yes to several thousand Rainbow Trout as part of an original Community Fisheries Invovlment Plan (CFIP Program) the Metro EAst Anglers have had for years for the Rouge River stocking program.

 

But the Atlantic claims are false, unless the author knows something I do not about the future use of Ringwood after we are kicked out in the late summer of 2011. I can not speak to this unknown, but what I do know is we have never really raise any significant numbers of Atlantic at Ringwood and have not raised any for several years now.

 

In this post I tried to share some of my personal experiences out at Ringwood with the readers of this website. To perhaps clear up some misunderstandings and offer a members personal experience with the OFAH, for better or worse.

 

It has been my experience that Anglers and Hunters are by and far a very divisive lot. We are divided for many truly stupid reasons and this is what makes us weak. Each year I believe our numbers are getting smaller and as a result politician really don't have to take our wants seriously. There is just not enough votes in it. The OFAH is indeed the largest Non-Profit Conservation orieinted group representing Anglers and Hunters in Ontario. As such, in my opinion, they are like so many election I see these days. We are faced with an election and all the candidates appear wrong for the job, but hey you want to exercise your democratic right to vote, No. So you choose the best of a bad lot or say enny meany miney more. So you cast your vote or in this case buy a membership and while your reading their magazine in the shithouse you say to yourself, "Man their has to be a better way."

 

Come on out to Ringwood and be a part of the most successful Community Involvement program this Province has ever seen. Of coarse I am just speaking of shear stocking numbers which translates into fishing opportunities for all on Lake Ontario. Produced by people who couldn't sit on the crapper any longer saying there has to be a better way. Come on out and just show the Government that this type of community involvement programs is important to you. Maybe someone will see the Unity for a moment and start taking sportmen seriously.

 

Contact Info;

 

Steve Lynas

Metro EAst Angler Volunteer

[email protected]

 

I think this should be posted on a separate thread.. I know i hate the ofah .. but what they did to you and your group is basicaly they same as what they tried to do with our nwtf club they wanted us to run a peice of proporty when it was all set to go they said oohh you have to buy a ofah membership if you want in ...the deal fell through THIS has to stop.

 

thanks you for posting your thought... maybe this will open the eyes of both the ofah and other groups

[torco]

Interesting read. I read the magazine but am not a member, I have contemplated joining in the past.

[jedimaster]

I am also a member. The reason? I don't have time to push my complaints to support the hoby we all share in the pollitical arena. Hunting an Angling has a bad image in the public and without any voice the MnR, and P3TA types would have fishing and Hunting banned altogether. Everything needs balance. I feel that my meager donation to OFAH every year provides some sort of balance to OFAH.

Do I agree with everything that the OFAH does? No.

Do I agree with everything the MnR does? No.

Do I agree with everything that P3TA does? no.

Do I agree with everything that the Goubernment does? No.

 

I feel like I have the brain power to be able to pick and choose what I believe is right. Thats why i choose to support many organizations. Not just one.

 

Its funny this came up, I sent a letter to the Minister of the Environment for Ontario, regarding the OFAH. Asking that if it would be possible to investigate the feasability of having an option donation box on the Fishing and hunting tags to have money go directly to the preservation of our fisheries, and not into a coffer fund like the rest of our license fees. Or perhaps publish what portion of the license goes to the preservation of our fisheries and hunting grounds....

 

This was the response.

 

 

 

 

ENV1283MC-2011-72

 

Thank you for your e-mail of January 11, 2011 regarding funding for Conservation Authorities and their activities.

 

While your comments are appreciated, we must advise you that Conservation Authorities are established under the Conservation Authorities Act (1946) which is administered by Lands and Waters Branch of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR).

 

The MNR provides transfer payments to Conservation Authorities for provincially mandated programs delivered by the Conservation Authorities which include: flood, drought and erosion operations (e.g. flood control, water conservation methods, erosion control, flood forecasting and warning, ice management, hazard prevention and watershed management). The MNR also administers annual provincial capital transfer payments to Conservation Authorities for repairs, maintenance and studies associated with existing CA owned water control structures. Local partners, including municipal and regional authorities, may also contribute funding for specific cultural or educational activities at these sites. More information is available on the Conservation Ontario web site at http://conservation-ontario.on.ca/ and the MNR web site at www.ontario.ca/mnr.

 

We hope you find this helpful.

[moemoe]

Steve, thanks for clarifying, I do realize and appreciate all the work that the volunteers played in running ringwood, I do think the volunteers and time and dedication they give are THE most important part of the successful operation of ringwood. I was unaware of the exact issues with the feed and thanks for bringing that to light, my error, I guess was lumping together the processes of the ofah with the MEA team. I am dissappointed to here of a 20% cut off the top, seems like a steep tax, thanks for taking the time to clarify, moe

[chilli]

Steve Dad told me about your post and I thank you for the look from the other side. I too don't understand the 20% and feel the memberships should have been free under that deal. I will inquire as to the reasoning behind both.

 

It is great that you guys did this work but its also great that you don't have to do it anymore. It has always been the OMNR's responsibility and its sad that despite our licence fees are supposed to pay for it the Government basically said either we do it or it's gone. Thank you for clearing up the misconception that all the volunteers were OFAH members. In my eyes they were only members if they became that way willingly by their own choice.

 

You my friend were the exact type of member I was hoping to attract by convincing my local club to affiliate. Hopefully we still will.

[Steve Lynas]

No problem moemoe

 

I have always been in the position of keeping the two organization separate. I am very proud of my little club and just want to make sure people understand first hand the unique happenings out at Ringwood. We have been the Metro East Anglers for many years and in our club we have members, who of coarse have subscribed to OFAH memberships and those that have never and will never. Our club executive purchases a quantity of memberships each year as mandated by the OFAH and distributes them as rewards to volunteers who have put in a significant number of hours out at Ringwood. As I mentioned earlier we have to make the mass membership purchase so we make sure those who have earn them get the perks that come with the membership (ie) Free monthly Ontario Out of Door Mag.

 

The 20% off the top for every donation we recieve is because we are not a registered charity and as such can not issue tax deductible receipts to large donators. Therefore they label the 20% charge the cost of administrating this receipt process and I believe it is a standard policy of any large donation given to OFAH affliated clubs.

 

Could they have absorbed these cost for a group that was doing the day to day labour in their name. I think so. Did they ever offer to do us this solid, No. So I think I will remind people from time to time that the Ringwood success does not lie solely on the OFAH shoulders.

 

Steve Lynas

MEA Volunteer

[chessy]

steve we had 100 members in our club they wanted 34 dollars from each one of us to become members.. we asked ian deslure (sp) if we made a donation to the ofah for 3500 dollars if they would give us the memberships ( it was a way of spending money for land for turkey habitat) and he said not a chance they have to keep membership separate . this was a 600 acer parcell of land the ofah wanted . because of 3500 dollars the ofah lost the land . they are still trying to get land . but they want the land to have hydro and a confrence (meeting hall) so something that was to save land for hunters was going to be a members site... oh ya . free land from the government they of course wanted every person to hunt or fish on the land to have memberships.( by the time my letters got up to top levels in the government and found there way back to ofah i was threatend by the director of the ofah in my zone . i won they still dont have the land

Edited January 19, 2011 by chessy