MNR Fish Stocking Summary for 2005
Earlier this evening, I was examining the OMNR 'Proposal for Managing Rainbow Trout Recreational Fisheries in Ontario', after which I spent a bit of time punting around on some other areas of the Ministry's site. Interestingly enough, I came across some data related to current management practices on fish stocking; based on the statistics that were presented in the summary, I would conclude that the ministry mandate is quite non-intrusive ~ though an individual breakdown of Great Lakes was not provided, the numbers of salmonids stocked in 2005 was quite small. Reduced stocking efforts might be indicative of a strong presence of wild fish ~ thus salmonid populations within the Great Lakes might exhibit some self-regulation contributing to the stability in the food-chain; in that case, increasing the number of predators (i.e. salmonids) via stocking might be detrimental to established populations of fish and forage. One statistic was quite alarming to note ~ almost 4 million Lake Trout were stocked into the Great Lakes in 2005, which seems indicative of the MNR mandate to restore populations of native species into our "freshwater seas". My only two concerns are as follows ~ (a) I wish that the Ministry would exhibit more consistency in their mandate toward fisheries management. Throughout the years, various non-native species have been introduced for a variety of reasons, many of which have become naturalized. In some ways, I am not certain that an attempt to restore the Great Lakes to their historic origins is biologically possible. At the same time, (b) perhaps our own OMNR needs to coordinate their vision and philosophy more carefully with US bodies such as the NYDEC and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. At the end of the day, our MNR has a wealth of scholastic talent, and I hope that their ultimate vision is someday actualized.
Earlier this evening, I was examining the OMNR 'Proposal for Managing Rainbow Trout Recreational Fisheries in Ontario', after which I spent a bit of time punting around on some other areas of the Ministry's site. Interestingly enough, I came across some data related to current management practices on fish stocking; based on the statistics that were presented in the summary, I would conclude that the ministry mandate is quite non-intrusive ~ though an individual breakdown of Great Lakes was not provided, the numbers of salmonids stocked in 2005 was quite small. Reduced stocking efforts might be indicative of a strong presence of wild fish ~ thus salmonid populations within the Great Lakes might exhibit some self-regulation contributing to the stability in the food-chain; in that case, increasing the number of predators (i.e. salmonids) via stocking might be detrimental to established populations of fish and forage. One statistic was quite alarming to note ~ almost 4 million Lake Trout were stocked into the Great Lakes in 2005, which seems indicative of the MNR mandate to restore populations of native species into our "freshwater seas". My only two concerns are as follows ~ (a) I wish that the Ministry would exhibit more consistency in their mandate toward fisheries management. Throughout the years, various non-native species have been introduced for a variety of reasons, many of which have become naturalized. In some ways, I am not certain that an attempt to restore the Great Lakes to their historic origins is biologically possible. At the same time, (b) perhaps our own OMNR needs to coordinate their vision and philosophy more carefully with US bodies such as the NYDEC and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. At the end of the day, our MNR has a wealth of scholastic talent, and I hope that their ultimate vision is someday actualized.
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