Metro East Anglers Inc.

MEA's mission is to preserve healthy fish populations to protect and restore watersheds around Greater Toronto. We achieve this thru three major programs in partnership with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. A quick summary of our largest programs and accomplishments for 2023/ 2024 season is as follows; (1) We collected Rainbow trout eggs from streams around the GTA during spawning runs and raised them in a hatchery we operate near Stouffville Ontario. Natural reproduction of these fish is limited in these watersheds due to the negative impacts caused by the large urban areas they flow thru and the effects this has on the water quality of the streams. By raising the fish in the hatchery we get them thru the very fragile early stages of life where high mortality exists in the natural environment. Many streams around the GTA have almost no natural reproduction. We were able to resurrect the Coho program which was stopped during Covid. We collected aprox 70k Coho eggs and raised them at the hatchery for release in fall of 2024. The MNRF also gives us Brown Trout eggs to raise at the hatchery which also helps us sustain healthy fish populations in the degraded watersheds around the GTA. (2) Milne Fish Ladder - Moving rainbow trout over the Milne dam gives them access to better quality spawning habitat in the head waters of the Rouge River watershed. Fish are tagged measured and weighed as they are moved over the dam so the health of the fish population in the Rouge can be studied. Goal is to get more natural reproduction on the Rouge watershed. (3) Pen Project - We operate 4 pen projects around the GTA where we hold 115 000 Chinook fry for 4 to 6 weeks each spring to improve their size & survivability. The public appreciates the watersheds more when they see fish living in them.