SHESHEGWANING—Due to ice conditions, several thousand rainbow trout exited a fish pen at Odawa Island Farms in Sheshegwaning First Nation.
“We had a minor incident at the fish farm,” said RJ Taylor of Odawa on May 1. “We use submersible technology at Odawa Island Farms. Our pens are intended to float at the surface during feeding and harvesting, and they are also designed to submerge below the surface during storms and ice movement. The fish in the pen are surrounded by nets on all sides to contain them both while they’re on the surface and underwater.”
Mr. Taylor explained, “Two weeks ago, we had a minor incident where an ice sheet shifted unexpectedly into two pens. On the first pen, the ice disrupted a manifold and caused the pen to submerge on its own. On the second pen, it disrupted individual spars and caused it to submerge halfway.”
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“Soon after we brought the pens back to the surface,” continued Mr. Taylor. “We inspected all sides of the pens to ensure fish were safe and contained, and did discover that the corner of the top-net on one pen came loose. Based on the remaining density in the pen, we estimated between 5,000-8,000 rainbow trout exited the pen. We are in the process of moving the remaining fish safely into other pens so we can repair any damage.”
“Based on my knowledge, it is rare that fish escape from fish farms on Manitoulin,” said Mr. Taylor. “Our fish are our livelihood, so we take many precautions to contain them in our pens. Every week we inspect our nets using underwater drones, and we also inspect our anchors and mooring systems monthly.”
“For some background context on the impact of this: rainbow trout are a naturalized species and have been swimming in Georgian Bay for 150 plus years,” said Mr. Taylor. “I looked up the numbers for 2024, and the Ministry of Natural Resources and local community hatcheries released 793,741 rainbow trout in Ontario waters, including Lake Huron and tributaries. We raise trout from the same genetic families that the government and hatcheries release every year.”
