Next month the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) will be doing some netting on Red Lake as part of a long-term program to monitor the health of Ontario’s lakes. Red Lake is one of 140 lakes being sampled this year. The work will be conducted between August 5th – August 22nd.
If you are visiting the lodge during this time, be sure to avoid the nets which will be marked with orange buoys or flags. The nets are 100′ wide so you will want to give them a wide berth and not pass between the markers on each end. This is not only for your safety, but will also protect the integrity of the study. The net sites will be randomly selected and moved frequently so we still don’t know where they will be.
MNR stock photo
The nets consist of small mesh to capture forage fish and large nets to capture game fish. The nets are lethal, but will only affect a small percentage of the total fish population in the lake. The MNR will be able to glean some very important information about the fishery including abundance, age, health, and maturity of a variety of fish species. They will examine fish stomach contents, take flesh samples for contaminant studies, and even check water quality.
We hope to have results from the survey by next season which we will then be able to share with you!
For more information check out ontario.ca/fishing