Bring Back the Salmon
Fleming College will be a major partner in a five-year project, Bring Back the Salmon, which will help restore native Atlantic salmon to Lake Ontario. The Frost Campus will rear Atlantic salmon at its hatchery. Students also will benefit from applied learning opportunities through field work on the project. Students in the Fish and Wildlife program at Frost have already participated in the first release of the salmon into Cobourg Creek on Tuesday, May 16 and Wednesday, May 17.Sporting hip waders, students were given green watering cans filled with water and about 500 fry. They then waded out into the creek and carefully poured the fry through the spout out into the water. "We’re excited at the prospect of playing a significant role in a large-scale restoration project that links so closely with our educational endeavours," said Blane Harvey, Frost Campus Principal. "Faculty and students from our Fish and Wildlife program will make a significant contribution to the successful implementation of this ambitious restoration program." "The Fleming College Fish Hatchery received a pilot intake of several thousand Atlantic salmon eggs and fry last December, from the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR). With these, we have been developing student learning activities, as well as new hatchery systems, in preparation for our intake of 100,000 Atlantic salmon eggs in December 2006," said Chris Westcott, Fleming College Fish and Wildlife Technologist.The Atlantic salmon restoration program wa s announced Thursday, April 27 at an event on the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto. The LCBO and Banrock Station Wines will fund the program with a pledge to contribute $1.625 million over five years. The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) will oversee the program with additional assistance from the MNR and a number of conservation groups.This restoration initiative comes almost 110 years after Lake Ontario’s Atlantic salmon – Ontario’s original salmon – were declared extirpated from our waters. Restoration of Lake Ontario’s Atlantic salmon is considered the most significant freshwater restoration project in North America.