Laura Thomas grew up next to a lake in Charteris. She spent much of her youth under water, snorkelling and discovering the world hidden under the surface. Thomas explained that like many kids, she wanted to be a marine biologist. Unlike most children her fascination with aquatic life never went away.
“I grew up on a lake and I always liked the underwater medium. So, it was something that interested me. They live in a different environment which has always been intriguing,” said Laura.
After high school, Thomas went on to study Fishery Biology at the . . .
University of Guelph where she gained the necessary knowledge to work on a Tilapia farm in Johnstown, Ontario. Laura and her husband Cory, who is also from the Pontiac, decided it was time to move back home. They also looked into Laura starting her own fish farming operation.
Luckily for them, the owner of a pre-existing trout farm was looking to pass his business onto owners who were interested in putting it back in operation. The farm they found was previously a tobacco farm. However, Laura explained that in the 1980’s the government gave tobacco farm owners money to transform their businesses. She noted that this is why Picard’s grows strawberries. All of the infrastructure needed to raise trout at Cedar Creek was built by a farmer leaving the tobacco business.
When Laura and Cory approached the farmer asking to purchase the farm, it had not been in operation for several years. The owner agreed to sell. It took about 2 years of negotiations with the government and the ministry of the environment to be in full operation, they have now been open for nearly 18 years. The farm is now home to them and their three children Ethan, Owen and Emma. This farm just happened to be right next door to Laura’s parents home, where she grew up, and swam in the lake and discovered her passion for aquatic life.
Laura works full time raising both Speckled and Rainbow trout. The process begins with Laura buying eggs from another fish farm near Quebec City. These eggs are then transported on ice by plane to Ottawa where Laura picks them up. When they are back at Cedar Creek, Laura hatches the eggs in under-water jars. Each jar is capable of holding 60,000 eggs.
Once they are hatched, the fish are placed in circular tanks where spring water is circulated to keep the fish moving. The water in the tanks flows counterclockwise, because of the gravitational pull of the moon in the northern hemisphere. The fish swim against the flow of the water. Laura explained that the tanks are almost self-cleaning as the flow of the water pushes all of the dirt to the center of the tank where she can flush the tanks. Laura flushes the tanks morning and night before feeding the fish. Depending on the size of the fish, the tanks hold from 2,000 to 9,000 fish.
The spring that they supply their water from is located at the bottom of a hill. Laura explained that this can cause issues for them, as they are at the mercy of the pumps to continually supply water to their tanks, and to oxygenate the spring water. Spring water is ideal for the operation as it is un-oxygenated and therefore is free of bacteria, and live matter. The water is put into a large drum where plastic balls are used to aerate the water before it is distributed to the 10 fish tanks. Laura explained that they must be very attentive to this part of the process, she said: “so if the power went off, like in this heat, there’s less oxygen in the water, and in 20 minutes you lose all the fish, especially the big ones.” To combat this problem, they have generators in place that can solve the problem until Cory, who is in charge of all the electrical, can fix it.
Within the tanks, the fish are separated by both variety and size. The Rainbow and Speckled trout are separated because they are sold for different purposes. The Rainbow variety is used primarily for consumption, as they are not native to Quebec lakes, in most cases they are not allowed to be purchased for stocking. Because of this, Laura buys the eggs sterile. This ensures that they remain firm as they grow, making a better product overall. Speckled trout on the other hand are native to Quebec and are allowed in nearly all lakes.
The fish are also separated by size. Laura explained that this is done in order to mediate how many fish are lost due to cannibalism.
Laura depicted the problem saying, “the other day I was looking in the tank with the three or four inch fish and there was one like six or eight inches. So I was like ‘how many have you eaten on me’?”
For the time being, Laura sells fish to stock lake and she offers whole, filleted, and smoked trout of which she prepares in her on-site slaughterhouse.
The farm used to offer fishing to customers, but when their oldest son Ethan was born they felt it was overwhelming to have people arriving at their doorstep. Laura did mention that the option is always there if any of her children have the entrepreneurial drive to get it started again.
More information about Cedar Creek, their products and how to order can be found on their website at www.cedarcreekfarm.ca.
