• Ontario Supporting a Healthy Fishery and Environment

    Fish Culture Program Providing Ecological, Economic Benefits

    May 13, 2013
    Ontario’s chinook salmon and Atlantic salmon-rearing programs now have a new home.
    The newly reconstructed Normandale Fish Culture Station provides an innovative facility to raise approximately 1.3 million salmon and trout annually for stocking into Lake Ontario.

    Atlantic salmon stocking is part of the Lake Ontario Atlantic Salmon Restoration Program, a multi-partner initiative to restore this native species to Lake Ontario. Chinook salmon are also stocked to support a popular and valuable recreational fishery in Lake Ontario.

    The new Normandale facility supports a recreational fishery that contributes more than $2.4 billion to Ontario’s economy and supports thousands of jobs annually.

    Protecting and enhancing local biodiversity and the environment is part of the Ontario government’s plan to enhance quality of life for families and ensure a strong, green economy for future generations.

    QUOTES

    “Ontario is proud to have this new, state-of-the-art facility in operation. The ministry’s fish culture program contributes significant social, economic and ecological benefits to the people of Ontario by supporting recreational and commercial fisheries, and by helping to restore biodiversity.”
    –– David Orazietti, Minister of Natural Resources

    “The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) believes Ontario’s fisheries require a strong fish culture program. The rebuilt Normandale Fish Culture Station will be a key piece of that program, producing chinook salmon and rainbow trout to support Lake Ontario’s recreational fisheries valued at hundreds of millions of dollars. While Normandale already has an important role in restoring the historically significant Atlantic salmon to Lake Ontario, this new, ultramodern facility will serve to enhance the efforts of the award-winning Atlantic salmon partnership.”
    –– Angelo Lombardo, Executive Director, Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters

    QUICK FACTS

    First built in 1924, Normandale Fish Culture Station is Ontario’s longest continuously operating fish culture station.

    The ministry operates nine fish culture stations, producing approximately 8.5 million fish for stocking in more than 1,200 Ontario lakes and rivers each year.

    Key funding partners in the Lake Ontario Atlantic Salmon Restoration Project include the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, Ontario Power Generation and the Liquor Control Board of Ontario.

    MNR supports stewardship and biodiversity conservation through a variety of programs, including the Species at Risk Stewardship Fund, the Conservation Land Tax Incentive Program and the Managed Forest Tax Incentive Program.

    LEARN MORE

    Learn more about Normandale Fish Culture Station.

    See where all Ontario's fish culture stations are located.

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