Anyone who fishes Broder 23 Lake southeast of Kivi Park might have a little more luck in the near future.
That's because there are about 3,000 new brook trout calling the lake home, thanks to Vale's biodiversity efforts.
After raising them in a tank at the Copper Cliff greenhouse since May last year, Vale employees released the fish through a hole in the ice on March 23.
Glen Watson, superintendent of Reclamation and Decommissioning for Vale's Ontario Operations, said fish are a highly valued resource in Greater Sudbury, because so many people like to fish.
Since about 2011, Vale has raised and release about 100,000 fish — brook trout, rainbow trout and walleye — into local waterways as part of biodiversity program, he said.
“We're very excited about this,” Watson said. “These brook trout will add substantially to the fish population in the area. We've had great success with our fish-stocking program and look forward to continuing to expand it to other waterways in the years ahead.”
Broder 23 is a lake that has been stocked with brook trout raised by Vale in the past, Watson said.
“The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry sanctions the lakes we restock, and we look for their guidance on the lakes we put fish into,” he said.
Because this particular school of fish was raised in tanks until they were a certain size, Watson said he expects a survival rate of more than 90 per cent.
The MNRF raises millions of fish, but only until they are a few inches in length, and their chances of survival are very low, he said.
Trees are also a big part of Vale's biodiversity program, as is the raising and planting of milkweed to feed Monarch butterflies, Watson said.
Furthermore, more than 3 million bees are kept in hives at the base of Vale's re-greened slag pile, with the idea being they will help pollinate the wild flowers Vale planted there.
“We take a lot of pride in our biodiversity initiatives,” he said.
Check out video of the brook trout release below.
