Investments in Provincial Fish Hatcheries

Each year, the ministry stocks approximately eight million fish weighing a combined 200 metric tons into more than 1,200 public waterbodies. At peak times, there are 20 million fish in the province’s fish culture stations.

Approximately half of the fish are stocked into inland lakes and rivers. The other half are stocked into the Great Lakes. Fish are stocked at all life stages: eyed eggs, fry, fingerlings, yearlings and some as catchable-sized fish.

Species reared at fish culture stations include Atlantic salmon, aurora trout, bluegill, brook trout, brown trout, splake (lake trout / brook trout hybrid), lake trout, lake whitefish, rainbow trout, walleye, chinook salmon, and bloater (an important native prey fish species that was eliminated from Lake Ontario in the last century). Beginning in 2025, the ministry also intends to culture largemouth bass to support warm-water urban fisheries.

The ministry also supports partners through the Community Hatchery Program (smaller local volunteer-run hatcheries), classroom hatcheries and research around the province by providing approximately three million fertilized eggs, fry, and young fish.

Infrastructure improvements are being made to three fish culture stations to better meet the needs of Ontario’s fish culture and stocking program, including:

Blue Jay Creek Fish Culture Station

This fish culture station is located on Manitoulin Island and dates to 1937. The station typically stocks 50-100 waterbodies a year in northeastern and central Ontario. Most fish are stocked in Fisheries Management Zones 10, 14, 15 and 16.

Blue Jay Creek currently raises and stocks 700,000-1,000,000 fish annually, consisting of lake trout, splake and walleye.

The new walleye building will use modern techniques to allow walleye to be reared in greater numbers. It is expected to increase the biomass of walleye the ministry stocks by 600 per cent to meet the ministry’s current stocking needs.

This increase in production will allow the ministry to rehabilitate fisheries and create new angling opportunities which have corresponding economic and social benefits.

Hill’s Lake Fish Culture Station

Hill’s Lake Fish Culture Station was built in 1938 near Englehart and was rebuilt in 1978. It is one of the ministry’s largest stations.

The facility currently raises and stocks approximately 530,000 fish into 350 lakes in northeastern Ontario each year. The majority of fish are stocked in Fisheries Management Zones 7, 8, 10 and 11.

Hill’s Lake has the largest spring-fed water source of all nine provincial-run fish culture stations, producing 20,000 litres of cold water per minute. Species raised and stocked include lake trout, splake, aurora trout, brook trout, and rainbow trout.

The station is critical to the success of Ontario’s Fish Culture and Stocking Program because it houses the largest number of broodstock (adult fish that produce eggs) of any of the nine provincial stations. The broodstock produce millions of eggs to support fish production and stocking at fish culture stations across the province as well as for community hatcheries, classroom hatcheries and research partners.

Upgrades to the facility will include a new early rearing area, an advanced rearing area, garage/workshop areas and a visitor centre. The early rearing area will be improved with technology that will allow for more efficient and effective control of water temperatures to support optimal fish growth rates. New modern fish tanks will also be used to improve procedures for both early and advanced rearing.

North Bay Fish Culture Station

The North Bay Fish Culture Station was built in 1937 and was rebuilt in 1965. The substation was built in 1984 and refurbished in 2024.

The station’s location allows the ministry to efficiently support the high demand stocking needs of central and northeastern Ontario. The station stocks approximately 555,000 lake trout, splake, brook trout, brown trout, and rainbow trout into 270 waterbodies. The majority of fish are stocked in Fisheries Management Zones 10, 14, 11 and 15.

The main station will be rebuilt to meet the needs of a modern and flexible fish stocking program for Ontario. Piping and water supply systems will be updated. Rearing buildings will be modernized and made more efficient.

The water circulating system will also be rebuilt to efficiently increase the water temperatures in early rearing. This will increase fish growth and the size of stocked fish, improving fish survival after being stocked into the wild. An automatic fish feeding station will also be added to increase efficiency.