06/17/2026
What do community hatcheries do if fish get sick?
Volunteer-run community hatcheries have access to the same fish health testing services as the Ontario Government fish culture stations run by the Ministry of Natural Resources.
The Community Hatchery Program (CHP) provides annual funding for community hatcheries in need of a fish veterinarian to provide health testing services to diagnose and treat sick fish.
Trained volunteers take quality tissue samples to send in for diagnostics, review and treatment by the CHP supported fish veterinarian Dr. Mykolas Kamaitis at Belwood Lake Veterinary Services.
In most cases, common health issues can be treated with prescribed measures, allowing the fish to recover and be safely released into the wild. But in some cases, naturally occurring diseases can be carried through the parent fish and are untreatable. At this stage the fish must be culled to prevent the spread. A hard thing for volunteers to see after investing so much time into raising them, but the goal is always healthy fish for public lakes and rivers in Ontario.
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Ontario Fish and Wildlife
