Volunteers and the Cardigan Fish Hatchery have made it possible for the Souris & Area Branch of the P.E.I. Wildlife Federation to continue their trout rearing/stocking program for the third consecutive year. Utilizing a site at Hay River which is being donated by Darrell Lesperance, more than seven thousand healthy speckled trout were reared during the 1995 field season. People from the community and the Branch volunteered their time to feed and care for these young fish, from the time they were delivered to the site by the Cardigan Hatchery in early May. Last weekend volunteers clipped the adipose fin (between the large dorsal fin and the tail) of these fish to "mark" them for recognition, if and when they are caught. And they do get caught. During the first part of the year's fishing season, anglers at North Lake Creek reported the catching of 1,200 of these clipped fish, which had grown from about five inches to between 11" & 14" since they were released into the estuary of this system in 1993! The principles of the program make sense. With the cooperation of the Department of Fisheries & Oceans, parent stock are collected annually from productive systems within the Eastern Kings region, the eggs are extracted, incubated, and are hatched at the Cardigan facility. The feeding fingertings, which are approximately 1 1/4" long, are delivered to the Hay River site in the spring, where they are reared until November when they are clipped, counted, and released into various river systems being restored. Since the stocking program began these trout have been placed in Naufrage River, Bear River, Hay River, Cross River and North Lake Creek.

Volunteers Justin McKinnon (left) and Roger Steadman (right) remove the adipose fin from fish reared at the Hay River facility, to "mark" them as products of the Souris Wildlife Federation's speckled trout stocking program.

This program recognizes the importance of genetics by stocking product from parent fish which originate in this geographic area. The stocking program is not meant to be a "supplement" to naturally occurring trout resources, but rather to serve as a "complement" by maintaining angler satisfaction while taking pressure off the recovering natural stocks. The ultimate goal will be to conserve, improve, and manage the actual watershed environments which our freshwater fishes depend upon to flourish on their own.

So when the next fishing season comes around, be sure to check your catch to see if it may be one of these "locally-grown" trout. You can help evaluate the success of this stocking program by passing on information about the size of the fish and location of catch to Branch President Mickey MacDonald.

by Larry Avery - from The Beacon - July 1995

Cardigan Fish Hatchery representatives Mike Murray (left) and Francis MacLean (right) are shown releasing speckled trout, which were raised by the Souris Wildlife Federation at their Hay River site this summer. Seven thousand of these "clipped" fish were dispersed between Dixon's Dam (North Lake Creek), Mclnnis' Pond (Cross River), Johnson's Pond (Hay River), and Bear River Pond. - from The Beacon - November 20 1995

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