Freshwater fish
Safeguarding healthy fish populations for future generations
Why freshwater fish matter
The Ontario Northern Boreal contains thousands of lakes, five of the last undammed and intact large rivers left in the world, and the largest wetlands in North America. This vast landscape is more water than land, and all of this water is home to more than 50 species of fish – the highest fish biodiversity in a largely still natural state left in Canada.
Healthy populations of fish are integral for First Nations people who live in northern Ontario. Fish is an important subsistence food source in an area where grocery stores are filled with highly processed and expensive food that is flown in from the south, and fishing is a culturally and spiritually important connection to a traditional way of life. Fish also support economically important recreational fisheries, especially fly-in fishing tourism. And they are a key component of the boreal ecosystem, providing a food source for animals ranging from birds to bears.
In order to safeguard healthy fish populations for future generations, we need better information and monitoring for fish in northern Ontario, and this information needs to be integrated into planning and management.
The challenge
Climate change and industrial activities
Warming water, hydropower dams, mines, and forestry are impacting fish, as well as from the roads and transmissions lines that industrial activities bring with them.
A lack of scientific data
We often don’t have a complete understanding of how fish are being impacted by these forces.
Our solutions
Better planning
We seek to improve planning in order to limit the impacts of development on fish. Fish are particularly sensitive to cumulative impacts because watersheds are connected, and impacts from a localized development can spread downstream. We are calling for big-picture regional planning for northern Ontario, so that the cumulative impacts of development at the watershed level are considered and accounted for in planning processes.
Better data
We are working to fill knowledge gaps and identify the main threats for freshwater fish by supporting the development of community-based monitoring programs; using computer-based modelling; and through targeted on-the-ground data collection.
We're using advanced computer modelling to identify the watersheds in northern Ontario that currently have the highest freshwater fish biodiversity today, and under likely climate change scenarios, in order to prioritize areas for protection.
Better management
We need data in order to make evidence-based decisions, and so we work to improve monitoring by supporting community-based monitoring; compiling and adding to existing scientific data; and collecting data on lake sturgeon in the intact North French River (Kah-pana-yow sîpi or Meh-ko-pwa-meh-ŝtik sîpi).
We have been working with Moose Cree First Nation Resource Protection on an ecological study of lake sturgeon at one of the largest hydropower facilities in Ontario, in order to identify whether management practices can be improved to reduce the impact of the dams (which are partially owned by Moose Cree First Nation) on this important fish species.
Projects
Learning from Lake Sturgeon
Big fish need healthy rivers.
Stories and op-eds
What does it take to turn knowledge into action alongside communities?
In conservation, knowledge has the most power when it moves – across communities, decision makers, and practice.
Focus on Fellows: William Twardek
We caught up with 2020 Weston Fellow William Twardek about his research and hopes for the future of conservation.
Wildlife migration connects our world
On a planet that is rapidly losing nature, Canada is one of a dwindling number of countries where you can still witness wildlife spectacles.Media coverage
A small river on St. Joseph Island has been named a "Key Biodiversity Area"
St. Joseph Island river listed as national priority for biodiversity
Up the creek without a paddle: protecting Canada's freshwater
Press releases
At-risk aquatic acrobat brings national recognition to small northern stream
Two Tree River, a small waterway on St. Joseph Island in the Lake Huron watershed near Sault Ste. Marie, has been identified as a Key Biodiversity Area (KBA), thanks to the presence of a unique aquatic acrobat.
