56 REPORT OP^ THE No. 3 



Game Fish 



During the fiscal year ending March 31, 1947, twenty-seven Hatcheries 

 and Rearing Stations were operated successfully. No new plants or additions 

 were established during the course of the year. 



For the culture of game fish, the development of rearing stations or a com- 

 bination of hatcheries and rearing stations instead of a hatchery only, is in 

 keeping with the progressive developments in this field. A hatcher}- may be 

 defined as a building in which is housed all the necessary equipment for hatching 

 and rearing of fish to the fry or advanced fingerling stages. A rearing station 

 is an extension of this arrangement, that is, large tanks, raceways or ponds 

 being provided for accommodating fish from the fingerling to yearling or adult 

 stages. 



Of the twent\'-seven stations, eleven are provided with hatcheries only, 

 three with a combination of hatcheries and ponds, eight with a combination of 

 hatcheries, racewa\s and ponds. Speckled trout are cultured at fourteen 

 stations, rainbow trout at two, brown trout at six, Kamloops trout at one, lake 

 trout at ten, largemouth bass at one, smallmouth bass at seven, maskinonge at 

 one, perch at one, yellow pickerel at ele\en, whitefish at nine, hiTring at two 

 and minnows at one. 



There arc facilities at three rearing stations for retaining a selective stock 

 of adult speckled trout for breeding purposes. These are maintained at Dorion, 

 Sault Ste. Marie and Hills Lake Hatcheries. A breeding stock of brown, rainbow 

 and Kamloops trout are provided for at one other station, namely, Xormandale. 



Practicallx all the speckled trout, brown trout and Kamloops trout dis- 

 tributed to suitable and publich" fished waters are \earlings or older fish. Black 

 bass, maskinonge, rainbow trout and lake trout are, generalh' speaking, dis- 

 tributed in the fr\- or fingerling stages. The raising of lake trout to the yearling 

 stage has been developed successfully at certain stations and when additional 

 pond space is available, expansion of the culture of lake trout in this direction 

 ma\' be undertaken. Whitefish, herring, perch, \ellow pickerel and blue jjickerel 

 are all distributed in the fry stage. 



The Culture and Distribution of Fish 



l-'ish culture ma>- be defined as any procedure for increasing the stock of fish. 

 One of the procedures used extensively in Ontario is the planting of hatchery 

 raised fish. In the majorit}' of cases, this procedure is a supplement and not a 

 substitute for nature's means of replenishment. 



A detailed account of the fish distribution from our twent\-seven stations 

 b\" county or district, species, age class and numbers planted is given in appendices 

 one to five inclusive. In the following paragraphs, comparison of the \ear's 

 distribution with that of the previous year, and other pertinent data are given. 

 The total output of all species for the year was practically the same as in 1945. 



Speckled Trout 



As in previous years, the objective was the distribution of 3,000,000 speckled 

 trout yearlings, but the figures were somewhat lower, nameh, 2,760,780. Due 

 to congestion at two or three of our stations it was necessary- to plant about 

 85,000 fingerlings. As our stock of breeders was quite good, we were able to 



