For the first time in its history, the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians opened its walleye hatchery to the public in an open house Wednesday evening.
The hatchery is located on 360 acres between Sault Ste. Marie and Pickford at 15464 S. Shunk Road. It has a 25-acre drainable pond and two 5-acre drainable ponds.
In the larger pond, 1.7 million walleye fry are planted each season. In the two smaller ponds, about 600,000 fry are planted.
The event was created to invite people to learn about its walleye rearing efforts as the fisheries staff prepares to transport and release upwards of one million walleye fingerlings into nearby lakes and streams.
The tribe has been raising and stocking walleye since 1995 to support commercial and sport fishing in the 1836 Ceded Territory since 1995. In that time, they have released more than 18 million walleye.
Officials say these efforts generate around $2.5 million in economic impact for the commercial fishing industry and just over $2 million in sport fishing activity each year.
Matt Allard has been with the hatchery for over two decades and says the open house was important to let everyone know how important the hatchery is.
"A lot of people do not know what we do here. People fish but they don't know what Sault Tribe really does. We are the only one that stocks the St. Marys River. There is about a 53 per cent chance that any adult walleye caught in the St. Marys River started at this facility. It's just kind of a knowledge thing to get the public outreach and letting people know how we do it here," Allard said.
