increased on most of the public waters, despite the extensive development of farm 

 ponds in the area, and fishing success may have declined slightly on some of the 

 more heavily fished waters. In central and northern Ontario, the number of 

 fishermen increased in most districts, but much of this additional pressure was 

 dispersed in the extensive areas of new development. 



The fisheries management programme conducted in Ontario varies tremend- 

 ously among the twenty-two forest districts. Conditions differ widely from one 

 area of the Province to another and, similarly, management practices differed 

 accordingly depending on the area and on the local conditions. However, the 

 fundamental requirement for all fisheries management is a sound knowledge of 

 the environment and of the population of fish contained therein. Consistent with 

 this objective, the fisheries programme in Ontario was directed mainly towards the 

 survey of lakes and streams, the examination and study of the respective fish 

 populations, and the assessment of the existing utilization of the resource. In 

 addition to this work, considerable attention was also directed towards the culture 

 and distribution of hatchery-reared fish and to the investigation and study of 

 specific problems as they occurred. 



Hatcheries 



Twenty-one fish hatcheries were operated by the Department in 1961. These 

 included eight trout-rearing stations, eight pond stations (including one sub- 

 station at Ingersoll), and five jar or trough hatcheries. 



The number and variety of fish produced and planted from each of these 

 various hatcheries in 1961 is described in Table II. A comparison of the total 

 number of hatchery-reared fish distributed, by species and by age class, for each 

 year during the period 1957 to 1961 inclusive, is also shown in Table III. 



All of the hatcheries, except Chatsworth, Normandale, Mount Pleasant and 

 Kingsville, were operated at or near the normal carrying capacity in 1961. 

 Production at the Chatsworth and Normandale stations was reduced because of 

 reconstruction at these sites. At Mount Pleasant, the production of fish was 

 curtailed primarily because of the deterioration in the volume and in the quality 

 of the water supply. The Kingsville Hatchery was not operated in 1961. 



The total number of hatchery-reared fish planted in 1961 was some 37 

 million fish less than the number distributed in 1960. This decrease was due 

 primarily to the reduced production of walleye and whitefish eyed eggs and fry 

 and, to a lesser extent, to the curtailment of the production of brown trout and 

 largemouth bass fingerlings. The slight decrease in the number of maskinonge 

 fry produced at Deer Lake Hatchery was due mainly to normal losses encountered 

 in the production of a larger number of older fingerling size fish. 



This year two hundred thousand lake trout eyed eggs were secured from the 

 Manitoba Government in exchange for one hundred thousand speckled trout 

 eyed eggs and one hundred thousand maskinonge fry. The exchange was of 

 mutual benefit to both agencies. The procurement of the lake trout egg stock, 

 which was collected from wild fish from Clear Lake, Manitoba, was of particular 

 value to Ontario because of the increased demand for this species since the 

 inception of the lake trout rehabilitation programme for Lake Superior. The 

 supply of speckled trout eyed eggs and maskinonge fry from Dorion and Deer 

 Lake Hatcheries, respectively, was equally important to the Manitoba Government, 

 which is currently engaged in the hatchery production of these species for 

 introductory plantings in that province. 



A variety of experimental studies was undertaken at a number of hatcheries 

 in Ontario in 1961. The most important of these included a preliminary study 



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