The trout at Willie’s Pond got their Christmas present a day early. On the eve of Christmas, St. Paul Fish and Game installed an aeration system that will give the fish a better chance of survival this winter.
“A couple of the guys in our association are biologists who’ve done some oxygen level studies over the last couple of years, and the oxygen level has been getting low so we thought might as well,” says Dave Doonanco, the president of St. Paul Fish and Game.
Doonanco believes some fish have died over the last few years due to a lack of oxygen. Willie’s Pond is home to a couple thousand trout.
Aeration helps maintain dissolved oxygen levels suitable for year-round survival of stocked trout, creating angling opportunities that would otherwise not exist, according to the Alberta Conservation Association.
The public is asked to stay away from the perimeter fence surrounding the aerator.
