An effort to return Atlantic salmon to Lake Ontario will begin next month in Mississauga. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and local volunteers will release millions of fry, yearlings and fingerlings into selected spawning streams over the next five years.

The first salmon fry will be released into the Credit River in Mississauga beginning the week of May 8.

The project is backed financially by Australian wine company Banrock Station, which will donate more than $1 million to the program. Banrock Station is known for supporting environmental projects in Australia.

The LCBO will chip in $250,000 and members of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) will work to revitalize the river banks and improve the stream conditions.

Atlantic salmon were originally native to the lake, but disappeared more than 100 years ago because of habitat changes during the European settlement.