Anglers on Saskatchewan’s Lake Diefenbaker are reeling in rewards from CanGro Processors’ misfortune.
Last month a “strange set of circumstances” caused four of the larger pens at the company’s fish farm to break open, said general manager Robert Hawkins.
He wouldn’t say how many rainbow trout escaped into the lake, but the number is thought to be significantly larger than an accidental release of about 50,000 in 1994.
Saskatchewan Environment sport fish specialist Bruce Howard said he has been on the phone ever since anglers heard about the accident, taking calls from as far away as Alberta.
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“Most of them are targeting trout right now,” he said.
“We will see some added fishing pressure on the lake.”
The accident happened when a northeast wind combined with large ice floes during the night to destroy the pens, which are located in an area called Cactus Bay.
“Normally that cove is protected from anything going on on the lake,” Hawkins said.
CanGro is insured, he said, but the company is trying to recapture as many of its fish as possible. Most of them are sterilized females.
“We wouldn’t want to be crowding out any native species.”
Hawkins said the trout will stay nearer the surface than other species, which makes capture easier.
The escapees are mainly in the 454 to 600 gram (1-1.3 pound) range, but some are between 1.8 and 2.7 kilograms (4-6 lb.), Howard said.
His concern is that these fish will eat a large amount of insects, plankton and other fish.
“We’re going through the potential ecological impact right now,” Howard said.
The department is also monitoring how many fish CanGro is capturing and how many anglers are catching.
CanGro Processors is owned by Saskatchewan Wheat Pool.
