Fish hatchery an eye-opening experience

The next time you cast your fishing rod, you might want to think about where the fish that populate Saskatchewan’s 100,000 lakes have originated. While some are native species and maintain their own population naturally, many are not and have had a helping hand in arriving at your favorite fishing spot.

The Saskatchewan Fish Hatchery, Saskatchewan’s only aquaculture facility producing fish for public sport angling opportunities, is situated along Echo Lake near Fort Qu’Appelle. Operated by the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation (SWF), the hatchery is celebrating 110 years of raising Trout and Walleye to populate as many as 200 public fishing waters in the province to enhance public angling.

Prior to 2014, the Provincial Government operated the hatchery. The facility employs seven permanent year-round employees and two summer staff and still works closely with the Ministry of Environment and other stakeholders to manage the spawning, collection of eggs and sperm, fertilization, growth and release of Walleye and various Trout species. Administered by SWF, operating costs are covered by Saskatchewan’s Fish and Wildlife Development Fund which receives 30% of its revenue from all fur, angling and hunting licenses sold in the province.

In southwest Saskatchewan, public waters stocked by the Hatchery include Battle Creek, Belanger Creek, Five Mile Dam (south of Gull Lake), Loch Leven, and Bone Creek, to name a few. The hatchery produces fish and stocks waters according to the Ministry of Environment Fisheries Biologists’ requirements. The 2024 Stocked Waters Guide, available on the Ministry’s website, indicates that a total of 8,736,592 fish were stocked in 145 waters with roughly 8.3 million of those being Walleye and the remainder Trout (Brook, Brown, Lake, and Rainbow). Splake and Tiger Trout may also be raised and stocked.

Free tours to the public are available at the facility seven days per week, including holidays, from May 1 until September long weekend. However, visitors will not see too much action at the facility after the middle of June once the fingerlings are released into public waters across the province.

This story was originally published in The Shaunavon Standard . It is republished under a Creative Commons license as part of the Local Journalism Initiative.