Gaspe Fish Hatchery

One of the earliest attempts in Canada to artificially incubate fish eggs during the winter to achieve an increased yield was undertaken in Gaspe. After an extensive overhaul of the Dartmouth River in the summer of 1873, A. Wilmot recommended the Mill Brook in L'Anse Aux Cousins as being the ideal site for the breeding establishment. Land was bought from Mr. Henry Davis and construction was undertaken immediately. The original building was over sixty feet long and contained breeding boxes with a total capacity in excess of one million salmon eggs. At the same time a retaining pond was built on the York River to hold parent salmon until breeding time. In the first year of production, 1874, thirty female salmon were captured yielding approximately 20,000 eggs. Since this was insufficient it was decided to import eggs from Miramichi, New Brunswick.

During the late 1890's the L'Anse Aux Cousins site was abandoned after a decline in productivity largely due to old and dilapidated facilities. In 1900 a combined lobster and salmon hatchery was constructed on Dean's Brook in Gaspe Harbour, where both salt and fresh water were plentiful. The first shipment of 800,000 salmon ova arrived in November, 1901, and the hatchery began operations with R. Lindsay in charge. This hatchery operated for about fifteen seasons but, in the Department of Marine and Fisheries Annual Reports, no further mention was made to the raising of lobsters.

 In about 1915, the Gaspe Fish Hatchery changed locations once again, moving to Sunny Bank, where it was constructed across the road from the site of the school.

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