Atlantic Salmon in Zone G

Jan 2017
Two schools in the Zone are still interested in mentors:

1) Bloor-Spadina area, a lab school on the U of T campus, it’s the older, simpler model and should be straightforward mentoring. The mentor could just meet me there when I deliver eggs for an introductory visit.
2) Richmond Hill (16th Avenue/Bayview) – this school has two teachers looking after it, but it is the more complicated set-up.  In this case the mentor may want to visit before I arrive with eggs to check on their set-up.

If there are any interested potential mentors, with police reference checks, they can get in touch with me and I can get them more information on the units and my schedule for egg deliveries.

Ideally the mentoring itself will just be being on hand to help with any emergencies and checking in every few weeks to make sure temperatures, water levels, and the look of the tank are all ok. The mentor can come on the field trip too to release the fish, though one of us will also be there to load them up (in future years this could be something the mentor does).

Dec 2016
I wanted to pass along the numbers from Zone G’s contribution to the Atlantic Salmon classroom hatchery program in 2016 and provide some other updates:

Zone G Schools stocked fish total – 2,090
Directly participating students – ~725 (the number in classrooms hosting hatcheries and who participated in the field trips)
Students receiving the Atlantic Salmon presentation  – ~950
Additional students had short-term exposure to Atlantic Salmon at OPG Pickering, Claremont Field Centre, Lake St. George Field Centre, Pickering Public Library, Downsview Park, Rouge Valley Conservation Centre (all public hatcheries)
New hatcheries in Zone G in 2016 – 2
Anticipated new hatcheries in Zone G in 2017 – 3 (they have funded their own units)

We were also got all of our chillers in for maintenance and upgrades (and subsequent re-certification for safety) in December 2015/January 2016. We have two different brands of chillers, and they went through different processes, and some of Zone G’s contribution helped with the costs of one brand for Zone G-area schools. Zone G contributed $1,686 towards the maintenance/upgrade process, and the remainder of the contribution was for travel costs associated with delivering the classroom hatchery program (egg delivery visits, presentation visits, field trips).

Chris Robinson, M.Sc.
OFAH Atlantic Salmon Restoration Program Coordinator
Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters
4601 Guthrie Drive, PO Box 2800
Peterborough ON, K9J 8L5
Phone:  (705) 748-6324 Ext. 237
E-mail:  chris_robinson@ofah.org
Web:  http://www.bringbackthesalmon.ca
Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/ontariosalmon