On Thursday May 18th, 2017 this year's restocking effort was
successfully completed. The last of the
Walleye fry were carefully deposited into Lake Nipissing just before dark.
The process began on a cold and wet April 20th with members
of the Lake Nipissing Stakeholders Association and volunteers braving the
elements to being the 2017 restocking process.
The LNSA was granted a permit to harvest 2 million walleye
eggs for the purpose of restocking Lake Nipissing. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry
facilitated the process by collecting the males and females for the LNSA to
process. Walleye spawn in the early
spring when water temperatures are between 5C and 11C.
Eggs were manually harvested from the females and quickly
mixed with the melt from the male walleye.
Volunteers constantly stir the mixture to ensure the reproduction phase
initiates. As the eggs are fertilized
they swell and constant oxygenation is required. Fertilization takes from 90 seconds to three
minutes.
Within hours the eggs are taken to the hatchery where they
were raised in a lab like building in a series of aerated jars until they
hatched on May 18th.
There is an 80 % survival rate for the fry released into
Lake Nipissing. The LNSA has carried on
this tradition of restocking which initiated over 30 years ago on Lake
Nipissing.
Restocking has proven successful in Manitoba with an annual
effort of 40 to 60 million fry released each year vs the >2 million allowed
by the local MNRF. Minnesota relies on
an even more robust restocking program releasing 270 million fry in 2014.
The province of Manitoba recognizes the value in restocking
it's lakes. It is estimated that for
every dollar spent on restocking, the province earns roughly $60, money fisherman spend locally. Fishing generates more than 200 million
annually for the economy of Manitoba.
