Fish farm near Collingwood?

[MarkD]

This post is very behind the date it should be posted but I was busy and had to think about something completely different for a few months... Sorry about that...
I was fishing out of Colingwood in  the beginning of September and got an average size rainbow.
When cleaning at home, as usual, I checked what is inside fish' stomach. It was empty, but to my surprise, in the lower intestine I found something what really looked like the pellets which used at fish farms to feed the fish. Under high magnification I could see very tiny fish bones. Strange though that the pellets were almost intact
I never heard that there s a fish farm near Collingwood. Is it? If not, where this rainbow could come from with the pellets still inside?
Any thoughts?

[GeorgianBay MessageBoard]

[samsquanch]

There is a rainbow farm on the opposite side of the bay by parry sound. They have floating nets and lots of escapees that feed on the pellets that make it thru the nets.


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[MarkD]

Of course I know about fish farm near Parry Sound. But I could not imagine if the fish would swim from Parry Sound to Collingwood that fast, considering that the pellets are still inside.
This is what puzzles me.

[Saugeen Drifter]

There is also a rainbow fish farm on Manitoulin and off the Cape Crocker. It is not unheard of to catch these fish. The way you can tell it is a net fish is to check the tail fins, if the fins are rounded off its a net fish that has recently escape. Over time their tail fin corners become rounded off from wearing against the nets. Usually these fish are very short but also football like in shape. Every so often the ice rips one open or the net fails. I have caught these fish off Tiverton in the winter which means then swam from the Cape, around Tobermory, south down the shoreline to the plant. Thats over 160km by water.  If the nets off the Cape failed its only about 70km to get to Collingwood. Less than a days trip if the fish are moving and in the winter their metabolic rate is very slow due to the cold so maybe digestion is very slow.
Just because it had pellet food in its stomach doesn't mean it was a net raised fish. When they feed the fish they throw scoops of pellets in the pens, not all get eaten, and get picked up by other fish around the pens. I have fished off one of these pens and caught both rainbows and perch with pellets in them.

[MarkD]

Interesting info, thanks.
I also heard that farm fish are short and ball-like. Do you think it is due to their specific genetic trait or due to conditions they were raised?

[Saugeen Drifter]

I think its genetics, short fat fish take up less space and have more meat on them. Kind of like using your biggest bull to breed your cows for bigger steers. More meat, more money. Not all of the fish farms are used for earning money, some feed the local community. If I were a betting man I'd say it was genetics but that's only a guess, could be from being stuck in a pen.