Georgetown Herald (Georgetown, ON), October 7, 1971, p. 25

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OUTDOORS By GEORGE HOARE Many Birds Fish Rptlts On the Brink of Extinction Third Instalment at an article written by Inventory on rare and endangered species of The a fascinating fish distinguished by Its elongated pa dale shaped snout was once found In Lake Erie In the Spanish River on the Georgian Bay in Lake Huron near Samla and In Lake on the Nipigon River It is really a living fossil since it is primitive and sharklike with cartilage rather than bone making up most of Its skeleton It attains a length of six feet In the Mississippi River and weighs up to ISO pounds Although It Is still found in the United States its numbers are dwindling and it has not been seen In Ontario for fifty years It con rightly be said to be extinct here Our most infamous loss is that of the Atlantic salmon It was once abundant in Lake Ontario where early pioneers used it as a staple item in their diet At that time streams were cold and clean with good gravel bottoms However Industry and agriculture with their destruction of the environment spelled doom Tor the salmon Dams were built to provide power for mills thus blocking access to spawning and nursery grounds for these fish forests were cleared silt loads In creased and gravel needed or spawning was covered Cattle using the streams further added to the silting problem As cover was removed and dams created reservoirs stream temperatures rose above the level which was acceptable to these fish When pollution was added to all this the population crashed and Atlantic salmon have not been taken from streams In Lake Ontario since 1803 Charlie Ginglo hopes to Taxidermist Reg bag a trophy bull moose like bagged this one this one this coming season This Is Lloyd with a nice catch of Rainbow trout IIMIAID THURSDAY OCTOBER Page conditions which made it possible for these fish to exist here over the centuries If we find fish Bpeclcs disappearing one by one from some of our bodies of water It should be a signal to us that the environment is changing and probably not for the better Some species of fish like the sturgeon are far more susceptible to fishing pressure snddamsthanothers but fishing pressure alone cannot account tor the extinction of species such as the blue pike If cur soil and water pollution mis use of the land construction of dams and water diversions are all changing the quality of our en vironment to such degrees that some of our animals are disappearing It could well be a danger signal for the future survival of man In the case of the brindled It might be difficult to convince many people that the loss or this fish was of any great consequence to us If we wake up some morning and find that the brindled mud torn has departed we should be worried Perhaps he was trying to tell us something END The Seven Deadly Sins were anger sloth gluttony envy lust pride and covetousness Several attempts have been made to reintroduce this fish to Ontario but the only success has been In Trout Lake near North Bay where it appears to be self sustaining As for as we know this small population or Atlantic salmon is the only one in Ontario When the Atlantic salmon was common in Lake Ontario it would have been difficult persuade early settlers that it would ever become extinct It Is with this thought In mind that we look uneasily at some of our presentday important species such as the lake trout Here is a fish which was once abundant throughout all of the Great Lakes except Lake Erie but its numbers were drastically reduced by the sea lamprey almost to the point of extinction It occurs elsewhere In deep cold lakes throughout Ontario but even here there ore warning signs The fake trout is a slow growing and slow maturing fish While the age at which it spawns varies over the province most are spawning by age seven or eight Fishing pressure which has been increasing in the open water period has further in creased In the winter through the advent of the snowmobile In deed the winter harvest on some lakes now exceeds that of the summer There Is also evidence that DDT and other in inhibit the production of young lake trout since many of the newly hatched fish do not survive Let hope that we have teamed enough to prevent the lake trout from going the way of the Atlantic salmon ALARMING It is a tragedy when any animal becomes extinct Most scientists would argue that there arc good reasons for preventing any animal from bec even such nuisances as the mosquito because the genetic information It had Is lost to us forever we cannot defend some of these animals on purely aesthetic grounds perhaps we have a more practical cause for concern It is generally conceded that we arc destroying our en vironment at an alarming rate Our native fishes required thousands to develop In our waters The species we have generally reflect environmental Do You Know SALE STARTS THURSDAY OCTOBER 14 Youngs Pharmacy DOWNTOWN GEORGETOWN Open Jam MONDAY to FRIDAY PRESCRIPTIONS DELIVERED TO My friend Charlie taxidermy shop at holds up snow goose at Reg Baldwin Ontario This is the big hydro dam Lands and Forests camping on the Ottawa River An and picnic area a short way excellent Department of down stream APPLES Pick Your Own MACS DELICIOUS LLOYD LAIDLAWS CREDIT VALLEY LAWN and Tree Service Fall Gardening Needs BULBS Daffodils Tulips Crocus Hyacinths Yews Junipers 3 for III FERTILIZERS GRASS PEATMOSS MANURES TERRACOTTA BOB ELWOOD Open Thanksgiving Weekend sfflto H HOLMES DEPARTMENT STORE PHANTEX WOOL Reg 89c Now KITCHEN CHAIRS Pretty Polly PANTIE HOSE Ret 144 for Get Set HAIR SPRAY SUGAR BAGS 144 for 1 LADIES BRAS Whites Colours Reg Now Friday Saturday October 9 Only for 144 1 Bra Pantie AND Leotard Set All Colours j 44 Now Baby RECEIVING BLANKET Reg 100 Each NOW 1 Main St North CORGI TOYS JR 88 MENS SOCKS I Queen Size PANTY HOSE Now for 2 144 MENS SHIRTS 5 No CRIMP SLACKS 6 Revolving TOOL HOLDER Reg 199 44 Now PLASTIC LINED DRAPES Reg Now for 1 Telephone 8772401

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