2024

Granted $5,000.00 for Restoring critical fish habitats in Eastern Ontario

Project Objectives:

Watersheds Canada’s Fish Habitat Program works to counter the impacts of growing development along Canada’s lakes and rivers, and the resulting degradation and loss of critical fish habitat. Shorelines are vital to habitat areas; throughout their lifetimes, over 90% of aquatic species use shorelines for food, shelter, breeding, and rearing areas. We address these growing impacts by restoring habitat areas to the same quality and value as where they were originally lost. We do this through a number of strategies, including sourcing the appropriate materials – such as rock, woody-debris and mulch – to help restore the integrity of habitat areas and encourage the recovery of fish population.

In 2024-25 our Fish Habitat Program is positioned for growth. We have generated nine years of evidence that demonstrates sustainable, measurable impact and the successful recovery of fish populations on the lakes and rivers we have worked on – including those supported by the Ontario Wildlife Foundation (OWF) in 2023. Over the next several months, beginning Summer/Fall 2024, we will expand our reach into Central and Eastern Ontario to support the delivery of five (5) fish habitat restoration projects that will specifically benefit trout and walleye populations that live in accessible lakes, and that have been affected by recent habitat degradation and climate change.