Yukon anglers don't need to go very far to land their dinner. Almost two dozen small pothole lakes are stocked with fish for the sole purpose of giving the fishing public a better chance at catching a meal. According to YTG fisheries biologist Susan Thompson, it isn't just about the sport-stocking lakes takes the pressure off wild fish populations.

"By introducing faster-growing game species like char, kokanee salmon and rainbow trout into these lakes, we reduce the pressure on more vulnerable species like lake trout," she explains.

Some Yukon lakes were first stocked in the 1940s during construction of the Alaska Highway. Currently, the Yukon government in cooperation with the Yukon Fish and Game Association to manage 22 stocked lakes, most near Yukon communities and restocked every couple of years.

Thompson says the Yukon is almost the only place in Canada that doesn't stock open systems. All stocked lakes must be contained, and the only fish that are stocked are species native to the Yukon. All lakes go through a very rigorous screening before they can be stocked.

"A lake must be completely free of other species of fish, and it must be at least ten metres deep so it won't freeze. And there can't be any inflow or outflow," she says. "This prevents the fish from escaping into streams and rivers where they don't naturally occur."

To supply the lake stocking program, eggs from spawning fish are collected and raised in the local hatchery. All of the fish are released alive after spawning, except for kokanee because they die after spawning.

Fish are generally stocked at a density of 500 fish per hectare. Thompson explains that the first stocking is always the best -- the fish grow well and there's lots of food. But just like farmers leave their fields fallow for periods of time, the stocked lakes are sometimes left for a couple of years to recover.

Kokanee salmon is one of the species used for stocking. In 1991, fisheries staff first took some kokanee from the creek in Kluane National Park between Sockeye and Louise Lakes. Parks Canada staff have worked alongside and have been very cooperative in allowing YTG fisheries staff access to use their resource, says Thompson.

"In the first year we took sixty kokanee," she explains. "We brought in a fish health expert from the Pacific Biological Station and their staff screened the fish for bacterial viruses and parasites. They conducted a complete disease check, looking closely at all parts of these kokanee -- kidneys, liver, everything. They said it's one of the cleanest fish they'd ever seen."

The kokanee life cycle is four years, so fisheries staff went in each August between 1991 and 1994 to collect 30,000 to 40,000 eggs each time. Thompson says it's been a very successful program, with an excellent hatch rate.

At first, the fry were raised at two private hatcheries in Whitehorse, but managers of the program soon decided that a dedicated freshwater facility was needed. At the time, the Whitehorse Rapids Fish Hatchery only accommodated Chinook salmon, so they added a quarantined facility for freshwater species. The hatchery and stocking program are possible due to the support of Yukon Energy Corporation, Yukon Fish and Game Association and other partners.

"We've slowly expanded the facility to include other freshwater species," says Thompson. "We hope to have our own brood stock of rainbow trout in the future." Currently, YTG brings in rainbow trout fry from B.C.

Thompson hopes to also stock lake trout and bull trout in the near future, but these slower growing species take several years before they are fishable and she wants to assess them further. Lake trout are more challenging to work with, partly because they take 9 to 12 years before they spawn.

"Lake trout in the Yukon often live for forty years or more. Most anglers are now realizing that the lifespan of the trout they just caught may be the same -- or longer -- than their own," Thompson explains. These species can't sustain heavy fishing, so stocked lakes help reduce the pressure of fishing on wild populations.

Most species don't reproduce in stocked lakes because their habitat requirements aren't met. However, she says arctic char in Cantlie Lake are reproducing on their own, as are kokanee in the Ibex Valley brood stock lake.

Most Yukon communities have a stocked lake close by, where residents and tourists stand a good chance of landing an arctic char, rainbow trout or kokanee salmon.

"The best thing about these lakes is that you can go out in a canoe and paddle around, or cast from the shore, and fishing is more easy and accessible to families," Thompson points out. "On the larger lakes like Tagish or Kluane, you need a big boat and safety can be an issue."

For more information on fishing in stocked lakes, consult the Department of Environment's annual publication, Angler's Guide to Stocked Lakes in the Yukon.