Joe McWilliams
Lakeside Leader

Work continued last week on the old Canyon Creek Fish Hatchery harbour infrastructure reclamation project. The hatchery, we’re told, was set up in 1928 and only operated as such until the late 1930s. Whether the timbers and other stuff being dug out of the lake bed are original, 1928 material, probably nobody knows. But they’ve been there for as long as any local people can remember.

For many years the hatchery building was used as a hotel, and is still called the Canyon Creek Hotel, but hasn’t been open in quite some time.

The work last week included an attempt at catching and relocating any fish that were in the area being dug up. Specialists were called in to accomplish this, by means of ‘electro-fishing.’ This entailed zapping the water, which stuns the fish and causes them to float to the surface. They are then scooped up and released in a safer place.

According to Brian Vance, who was supervising the operation for the M.D., no fish were found.

The province is footing the bill (close to $500,000) for the reclamation project.