Special Projects 



1. NET SECTION 



Four net men, one truck driver and a net foreman are employed in the 

 Net Section at Maple. In addition to their usual duties in the building and 

 maintenance of netting gear for use in departmental field projects throughout 

 a major portion of the province, they also participated in various netting 

 operations undertaken directly or in co-operation with district personnel. A 

 summary of 1964 field projects is as follows. 



In order to determine walleye (pickerel) population densities, fish 

 migrations, utilization by sport and commercial interests and, in some cases, 

 to determine the contribution made by the planting of hatchery reared stocks, 

 walleye tagging was carried out in the following areas: Shawanaga Basin 

 of Georgian Bay (Parry Sound Forest District); Batchawana Bay of Lake 

 Superior, North Channel at Blind River and Bright Lake (Sault Ste. Marie 

 Forest District); and Kashwakamak and Mississagagon Lakes (Tweed Forest 

 District). Surveys of fish populations were carried out on Chandos and Jack 

 Lakes (Lindsay Forest District) and on Lake St. John (Lake Simcoe Forest 

 District). Suitable netting sites were located on Mishibishu and White Lakes 

 (White River Forest District) and on Lake Simcoe. A number of tagged 

 adult walleye was transferred from the Talbot River to Canal Lake as a 

 restocking venture and netting operations were also carried out to collect 

 fish for the Canadian National Exhibition and the Canadian National Sports- 

 men's Show. In addition, nets were operated for the collection of lake 

 trout eggs in Mishibishu Lake, Lake Simcoe and Lake Manitou, for white- 

 fish eggs on Lake Manitou and for walleye eggs on the Talbot River. 



The Port Arthur section of the netting staff consists of two net men who 

 carry out similar duties in the Western and Mid-western Regions of the 

 province. In 1964, they were involved in the tagging and transfer of muskies 

 (Sioux Lookout Forest District); collection of lake trout eggs and sucker 

 eggs (Port Arthur Forest District); walleye tagging, walleye transfer and 

 four lake surveys (Port Arthur Forest District); demonstration of large trap 

 nets (Kenora Forest District); and the building and operation of an experi- 

 mental trawl for herring (Port Arthur Forest District). 



2. PATRICIA INVENTORY 



The year 1964 marked the end of the Patricia Fisheries Inventory 

 Project as such under the terms of the old Federal-Provincial Agreement. 

 For the future, it is proposed that the surveys required in the Patricia district 

 be conducted by fisheries personnel in the Forest Districts concerned. 



The Patricia Inventory was initiated in 1959 and its purpose was to 

 survey the important waters, examine the respective fish populations in detail, 

 and to plan and institute appropriate management of the fisheries in the 

 respective waters. To achieve this objective, a relatively intensive study was 

 planned for each of the larger lakes and/or for at least one lake on each of 

 the major watersheds in the area. This fact finding program had progressed 

 steadily since its inception in 1959 and previously initiated surveys on Big 

 Trout, Winisk and Sachigo Lakes were brought to completion in 1964. 



In addition to these major surveys, fish management officers in the 

 Forest Districts of Sioux Lookout and Cochrane conducted a number of 

 short term or preliminary surveys on minor lakes during 1964. Commercial 

 fishing licences were issued when fish populations warranted such action. 

 A sport fishery and resort business have been developed on Hawley Lake 



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