The Thunder Bay Salmon…

The Thunder Bay Salmon Association is pleased to finally have a formal written stocking plan with identified goals and objectives which include social and economic considerations. Annual assessment of the Kam River by the MNR is something we have asked for in the past and welcome. The TBSA are willing to co-operate and assist the MNR as much as possible and look forward to input from the MNR on possible stocking locations on the Kam River and its tributaries. In the past 5 years we have collected as many as 250,000 eggs and as few as 10,000 eggs. Our hatchery has sufficient water to raise 250,000 eggs and economically our operating costs per fish is lowest when we operate at capacity. Our preference would be to collect 250,000 eggs per year but we are willing to accept a limit of 120,000 fish stocked per year. Given our historic mortality rate we would need to collect 150,000 eggs to achieve this goal. When you refer to Assessment of the Kam River with a single pass of a 50-75 meter stretch of the river with an electro fishing unit, does this mean only 1 check total in your search for 100 fish or will there be several passes in various locations consisting of a single pass of the same stretch of water. If there will be many passes in a variety of locations over a period of time we think that the assessment will be meaningful. If it is only 1 pass total you could be in an area with no fish or on a day when there are no fish present and we would question the quality of the assessment. Even though you are using an electro fishing unit, it is still fishing, and you could get lucky and find fish but you could also get nothing at all. We would like this statement elaborated on or explained to us. When making the Assessment your goal is to collect 100 salmon. You do not say what will happen if you do not collect 100 salmon nor what will happen with the information if you do collect 100 salmon. We would like this statement elaborated on or explained to us also. You mention Disease Monitoring. For years we have been disinfecting eggs during hardening using a solution of Ovadine. We monitor our fish daily for disease and consult with a biologist at the Dorion Hatchery if anything is noticed. You mention an annual disease test prior to stocking out. What does this involve and will it be done by the MNR? We require additional information so that we will know when, and how this will be done and who we should contact to get this done. We are very willing to have this done we just need more information.