The stocking of atlantics time, resources and money. Direct from the "Bring Back the Salmon; Lake Ontario" website
The first efforts to maintain or even restore the declining Atlantic salmon population of Lake Ontario, one of the first species in Canada to be decimated by human activities, were made by Samuel Wilmot. In 1866 he established the first government-sponsored fish hatchery in North America in Newcastle, Ontario. His efforts seemed to initially pay off, as population increases were observed in many streams. However, the numbers fell again, and by 1881 observers were reporting very few fish. The species was officially declared extirpated in 1896, and the last reliable report of a harvested Atlantic salmon was in 1898.
It goes on to talk about failed attempts at stocking in other regions, the last paragraph reads;
In Ontario, the next effort to restore Atlantic salmon was undertaken by the Department of Lands and Forests (MNRF’s predecessor) in the 1940’s using Miramichi, NB stock. After five years of stocking, mortalities were still significant from high summer stream temperatures and predation upon juvenile Atlantic salmon, and the attempt was stopped. Sporadic stocking occurred up until 1964 without success, and efforts were halted as the entire ecosystem was considered too degraded to make restoration likely. It was not until 1985 that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) again attempted to stock Atlantic salmon into Lake Ontario.
Stockin Atlantics has been proven time and time again to be futile, and whats worse is that they acknowledge there has not been success in the last 150 years. The only thing to be accomplished from this is wasted money and unbalance in already sustained fisheries