BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW
This week, Rolly Frappier became the proud father of more than 700,000 babies. To say he is a busy man would be an understatement.
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Rolly Frappier above is motivated by knowing there?s going to be better walleye fishing for future generations. |
Frappier has been hard at work incubating about 900,000 walleye eggs over the last couple of weeks.
?This is a passion for me,? said Frappier, Walleye Hatchery Committee chair and lover of the big-eyed aquatic beast.
?To me there isn?t any other fish out there.?
The hatched fry will go to rearing ponds all across the north to bolster walleye populations.
Frappier doesn?t receive compensation for his diligent work.
?Somebody had to do it and I chose to do it,? said Frappier.
?Come on its pickerel and that says it all.?
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Jordan Molto, 4, gets a closer look at the fish eggs at the fish hatchery in Val Caron. |
Since April 28, Frappier has put in an average of 16 to 18 hours a day for seven days a week at the fish hatchery in Val Caron.
Two significant changes occurred this season for Frappier and his tireless co-workers.
They received the services of a Fisher Shocker Boat and tested a new anti fungus method on the eggs.
The boat was a gift from funding received from FedNor and the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR).
?The shocker boat is the most efficient and economical method of collecting wild fish stocks.?
The boat projects an electrical current into the water temporarily stunning the walleye. The fish are then scooped up in a net and deposited into a holding tank for revival.
The electrical current doesn?t harm the fish in any way. Frappier then heads to shore to get the egg fertilization process underway.
On shore, Frappier and co-workers take a large, sterilized steel bowl and add half a litre of water.
Then a little bit of male walleye sperm called milt is added. The mixture is stirred with a feather.
?We use a wild turkey feather because it?s soft and delicate.?
One worker then adds eggs from the female to the mixture. A new male is introduced into the mix every 30 seconds until the last egg is taken from the female. Frappier will use about seven to eight males.
?This process diversifies the gene pool,? said Frappier. ?We do it the same way as Mother Nature does it.?
They also use this process because the milt only lives for about one minute.
The mixture is stirred constantly. From there about one litre of pre-mixed Fuller?s mud is added to the solution and mixed for about 15 minutes while two litres of water is added.
?The eggs are made to stick to rocks and using the Fuller?s mud removes the stickiness.?
Then the mud is drained and more water is added. This is repeated about five times. The eggs are then placed in a cooler for two hours.
?This allows the eggshells to harden and soak up water to double in size.?
The eggs then make their journey to the Bell Jars in the hatchery on Frappier?s property. They have a golden colour to them when they first arrive.
?These eggs are worth their weight in gold.?
This season, the eggs arrived at Frappier?s hatchery May 3.
Over the last couple of weeks as the embryo developed, the eggs changed to a dark brown. Even in
this early stage, the trademark eyes of the walleye have already developed.
The eggs stay in the jars while fresh water is pumped in to supply oxygen and agitate the water. They stay in the jars for about 21 days or less, depending on the temperature.
Frappier and co-workers used a 35 per cent hydrogen peroxide mix with water to combat fungus build up on the vulnerable eggs. Last year he used a three per cent mix.
?It was a major problem before, but not this year,? said Frappier.
Fungus can starve the egg of oxygen and cause huge clumps to form killing many eggs.
Then the hatching begins.
?Sometimes you get what?s called a popcorn hatch, where all the fish explode out at once,? said Frappier. ?It?s truly an unbelievable sight.?
Of the 900,000 eggs, Frappier expects a modest 85 per cent hatch rate.
As for Frappier he?s just glad he could help out.
?Knowing there?s going to be better walleye fishing for future generations is my motivation.?
