THIRTY thousand trout are to be taken on a wild white water raft ride to a new home in the Rocky Mountains, USA.
In a unique scheme, the 23cm trout are being trucked from a hatchery in Calgary to the specially fitted rafts, which will then take them through hell and high water to Kananaskis Lake, where they will be released into cold, deep water to improve their chances of survival.
The innovative approach to fish stocking has made possible through the efforts of Alberta RiverWatch, which donated the use of the whitewater rafts, and BP Canada Energy Company.
In addition to the stocking at Upper Kananaskis Lake, BP employees also volunteer their time to work alongside hatchery volunteers and staff to assist with educational programs at the Sam Livingston Fish Hatchery.
Each year the schemes backer, Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, raises between 2.5 and 3.5 million trout for release into publicly accessible waters throughout Alberta.
The provincial stocking program boosts the angling in the region and reduces the angling pressure on native fish populations.
Rainbow, brown, cutthroat, bull and eastern brook trout are raised at two hatcheries – the Sam Livingston Fish Hatchery and the Cold Lake Fish Hatchery – and are released into more than 150 lakes, reservoirs and streams around the province.