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coos anl viwvfr volwvpo wiavii aithiuwoos economist suntribune c ofukl o tuesday july 25 2000 r f stquffvillebased government hatchery is entering its 20th year the ministry of natural resources ringwood fish culture station has a rather inconspicuous presence although the fish hatchery is hid den view along the west side of hwy 48 and just north of the stouffville sideroad it plays a significant role in the provinces sport fishery scheme now in its 20th yearof operation the stouffvillebased facility is the nerve centre for the provinces salmon fishery in lake ontario salmon from both shores ringwood is unique in that were theonly government hatchery that raises pacific arid atlantic salmon noted lisa millerdodd ringwoods operations coordinator since 1997 nestled on a 100acre parcel of land the ringwood hatchery has reared coho and chinook salmon since its inception the coho program was stopped eight years ago due to a ministry decision before resuming in the fall of 1997 arid inthe winter of 1991 it took on the responsibility of rearing atlantic salmon as part of a ministry experimental program jringwbods uniqueness doesnt end with the species of fish being reared its ability to rear fish successfully stems from a unique feature it has through its ground water source housed in one of the facilitys two existing structures the aeration building receives water from three artesian wells vlts good because its all flow through watersaid millerdodd of the water management arrangement- we dont have to pump water if a- power outage occurred were not affected at all the other building known as the production house is divided into an egg receiving room early and advaricedrearing rooms in the chinook salmon program millerdodd notes eggs are collected around oct 1 from fish returning to spawn in the credit river once the eggs arid milt are collect- ed fertilization iscarried out inthe egg receiving room- it is at this point when miller- dodd says the ringwood facility becomes a beehive of activity and remains that way until early tomid maywheri most of the fish seeded since the revivalof the coho salmon program the ministry received eggs for rearing from three different sources including the salmon river in new york- state two rivers inmichigan and blue jay creek on mariitouliri island thisfall however- miller-dodd- saidtherhinistrywill attempt to col- lect its 6wrieggs out of spawning fish returning from the credit river- cit isalso hoped with the coho pro- grams revival that the strain of fish will be one that makes an early return to the rivers instead of past strains that returned in late november and even into december millerdodd noted that when the egg collection crew were seeking chi- nooksiri the early fallsome coho were present with the atlantic salmon at ringwood millerdodd revealed the eggs originate from the normandale hatchery k in this program millerdodd revealed these fish are raised as either advanced fry weighing one gram iri weight and are stocked in late april or delayed fry weighing less than one gram and are not fed hatchery food but are stocked into rivers when natural feed is present such as during the black fly season tours given at ringwood what is carried out at ringwood is not done in secrecy within the production building is a visitor centre which was originally- opened in 1986 arid closed in 1993 due to a shortage of ministry funding before reopening in1998the centre has pictures depicting the life cycles of salmon and two aquariums one with chinook and coho salmon in fingerling stages the roonialso allows for the view ing of the rearing tanks- while the ministry dictates what numbers of salmon are to be stocked annually millerdodd revealed a total of 555000 chinooks four to five months old were reared and stocked in late april through early may rang- ing from st catharines at one endof lake ontario to prince edward county to the east as well 53000 yearling cohos were reared and stocked this spring into the credit river this fall she estimated the credit river will receive another 120000 fin- gerling cohosl in the atlantic salmon program 102000 advanced fry were placed in the credit river this past spring another 119000delayed fry were seeded intbthe credit rivercobourg creek wilmot creek arid barnharn house creek j anyone wishing to visit ringwood can do so on a yearround basis monday to fridays when the staff afeworking weekends frorh december until late april the centre js also open pri weekends v those wishing to take a tour of ringwood can do so by calling 6406204 save 25401 passenger performance and bridgestone truck tires excludes roadhandlert plus michelin xc lt4 and michelin xcx apt truck tires vlktivevvmivhv nhbl ffll vtipr visit your nearest sears automotive centre for your full auto service needs sears shops on steeles at 404 or sears promenade auto centres 90516600 905j73122p9 open monfri 730 am900 pm sat 800 am 600 pm sun 12 noon 5 pni s hi hi 4 n ft i h