HomeMy WebLinkAboutSaluting Huron County's Agricultural Industry, 1987-03-25, Page 3Alternate -
incomes #■
Alps Creek
Trout Farm
swims into
farmi ng future
Suddenly, you are transported,
back in time and place, to the years
when North Huron is being settled:
the solid, square-timbered log
house stands foursquare at the
crest of a hill, smoke rising from the
massive stone chimney; in the
distance, water laughs, and all
around cedars grow thick as fur on
the steep hills.
But the picture changes sudden
ly as you notice the low roof of a
large, modern building nestled
beneath a hill beyond the house:
this is the nerve centre of the Alps
Creek Trout Farm, an example of
one of the hottest new trends in
farming in the nation, aquacul
ture.
Owned and operated by Robert
and Donelda Charter of RR 3,
Blyth, the fish farm was started in
1980, after the couple saw an
advertisement in a farm news
paper inviting enquiries into a
business which had its Ontario
beginning only 25 years ago.
Looking for a means of bolstering a
declining cash-crop farming in
come the Charters applied, and
were immediately “hooked.”
Finding a suitable site for a fish
farm is all-important: few locations
have ideal conditions for raising
the delicate creatures under inten
sive management. Not just any
water will do. For Rainbow Trout,
water temperatures must stay
within 41 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit
on a year-round basis, dissolved
oxygen and nitrogen levels in the
water must be kept within rigid
limits, and ammonia levels, alka
linity, suspended solids, hydrogen
sulfide and iron must all be
checked to ensure safe limits.
But most important of all - there
must be water, lots and lots of
water. On the average, it is
estimated that Ontario fish farms
produce 35 pounds of trout per year
per gallon of water per minute; and
with proper treatment, production
can be pushed to 100 pounds per
gallon per minute.
It also helps to find just the right
lay of the land. While a gravity-fed
water system is not essential to the
positioning of tanks and buildings,
it does cut down on pumping costs,
to say nothing of eliminating the
one thing that can bring out a cold
sweat on a fish farmer - a power
failure.
With the help of relatives living
in the area, the Charters were
fortunate enough to find a place
that was almost perfect for all
counts. Just south of Teeswater, in
some of the best farmland in Bruce
County, they found a steep,
wooded valley, plentifully watered
by creeks - and the site of what
proved to be a 425-foot artesian
well, a well that steadily produces
350 gallons of water per minute,
running at 48 degrees Fahrenheit
all year round.
The site also had a turn-of-the-
century log house in excellent
condition, a bonus that particularly
appealed to both Robert and
Donelda, both of whom come from
families steeped in history. Restor
ing this lovely building has become
a large part of their lives, and they
spend as much time there as they
can afford away from their East
Wawanoshfarm, and from Don-
elda’s job as a teacher at Blyth
Public School.
Coming out of the ground, the
water pressure at the wellhead is
sufficient to force it up through
THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 1987. PAGE A3.
One of the major jobs on the Alps Creek fish farm is sorting the fish regularly, so that trout oj a
similar size are all contained in one tank, in order to reduce feeding competition and promote
growth. The indoor hatchery contains 12 tanks such as this one, as well as the rectangular fry
tank and settling tank seen in the background.
three 12-foot-high columns packed
with aerating material; from these,
it flows into the hatchery building
containing 12 gigantic tanks full of
young fish, circulating at a steady
15 gallons per minute. Leaving the
building, it picks up speed to
circulate at30 gallons a minute
through the four huge tanks
outside, which hold the larger fish.
After circulating once through
the outside tanks, the water goes
into a holding tank which settles
out much of the fish manure,
re-circulates through the tanks,
and goes into a holding pond where
nitrogen, ammonia and solids are
all dispersed before the clean
water discharges into a nearby
creek.
At the moment, in a special
brooding aparatus in the basement
of the house (where the spring-fed
water is slightly warmer,) Robert
has 50,000 Rainbow Trout eggs
just starting to hatch; the first tank
in the hatchery building contains
45,000fingerlings, the result of the
previous hatch. At this point, the
Charters purchase fertilized eggs
from a supplier at Thamesford, but
do not rule out the possibility of
producing their own at a later date.
The fish are sorted by hand on a
regular basis, so that each tank will
contain fish of a uniform size, to
reduce competition and produce
maximum growth; the fingerlings
Continued on page A4
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