Two Ontario conservation groups are working together to boost the sports fishery in Lake Huron and Georgian Bay.
In a one-time move the Wiarton based Bruce Peninsula Sportsmen’s Association is donating 5-thousand dollars to its fish-stocking partner The Lake Huron Fishing Club. The Lake Huron club has in the past supplied the Wiarton club with milt and roe to help support the BPSA hatchery.
The money will help the Lake Huron Club operate its Port Elgin and Kincardine hatcheries.
The Bruce Peninsula organization had hoped to expand sanctuaries at Gleason Brook and Colpoy`s Creek to protect spawning rainbow trout. However the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters rejected the idea, claiming the BPSA plan would interfere with fishing opportunities.
As years went by, fishing pressure at the mouths of Gleason Brook and Colpoy`s creek resulted in a shortage of trout eggs for the Wiarton club's hatchery. So the Lake Huron Club stepped in to supply the Wiarton hatchery with fish eggs from the Saugeen River.
BPSA President Tim Lahey says the donation was unanimously approved by his club’s members. In his words “we are proud to be able to do this to help our sister club for the greater good of the sports fishery”.
Lake Huron Fishing Club President Al Wilkins says “this donation will offset the increasing costs of operating our hatcheries and demonstrates that we are working together to beef up our sports fishery”.
We know that sports fishing attracts tourists. For decades both clubs have stocked millions of fish in Lake Huron and Georgian Bay building one of the healthiest sports fisheries in Canada. Their conservation efforts have helped pump millions of dollars into the regional economy as US and Canadian anglers are attracted to a fishery that boasts “you can eat what you catch”.
The Lake Huron Fishing club stocks fish in Lake Huron as far north as Pike Bay. The Bruce Peninsula Club stocks Colpoy`s Bay and water as far North as Barrow Bay in South West Georgian Bay. During the cheque presentation in Port Elgin members of both clubs agreed “it’s all about the fish”.
