My pleasure is engaging all parties during the Chantry. That includes the MNR staff and summer students who survey catches at Kincardine station.

They are a pleasure to talk with and have shown me some interesting features of our Huron fishery and our fishes. They take measurements, observe and record samples, and remove tissue samples for analysis.

I mentioned to one young summer intern this year that Chantry volunteers record entrants' and catch data - we do have a very comprehensive data base.

Budget constraints have limited MNR's field reports to a scant few days at one station over the duration of the Chantry. Our intern was very interested and passed this news up to Vicky Lee of the Upper Great Lakes Management Unit - Lake Huron Office in Owen Sound.

Vicky responded to me, "This is the information we are looking for. The lengths, weight, clips, lamprey mark data give us valuable biological information. Information pertaining to the anglers themselves (i.e. city and postal code) allows us to see how far anglers are coming to participate in the derby."

I was gob-struck that we have been painstakingly recording species, measurements, weights and predation marks along with entrants' details in accessible format since 2005 and it's been sitting in our digital cupboard collecting static.

The Chantry committee wholeheartedly agreed to supply our records with names and phone numbers deleted: this was duly executed and supplied.

I'm thinking that the person who instituted our data base also instituted one of LHFC's major contributions to the Huron fishery and to Ontario fishing generally.