Here you'll find information on aquatic research currently being done across Ontario. Our site includes information on ARDS staff, their research projects and publications, and important partnerships and collaborations.
In the spotlight
Steve Fischer of CBC News Ottawa joined Dr. Mark Ridgway, MNR research scientist and his research crew, in Algonquin Provincial Park to check out MNR’s lake trout research.
Aquatic Research and Development section scientists have been studying lake trout in the park for the past 73 years. The research provides MNR with valuable information about how the lake trout population in Algonquin’s Lake Opeongo is changing over time. Ten years ago, they started tagging the fish, which allows them to track individual fish and gather more data for population and survival estimates.
Check out how Mark, Steve and the crew catch, tag, and release lake trout as part of the MNR’s historical lake trout project.
(This video was produced by CBC News Ottawa)
Read more about their adventure here.
Feature project: Do slot-size fishing regulations help manage fish populations?
Slot-size fishing regulations are designed to allow enough fish of reproductive age to survive—providing angling opportunities and sustainable populations. These rules help anglers identify which size of fish they are allowed to harvest.
Research scientist David Evans of MNR’s Aquatic Research and Development Section is studying the effectiveness of size-based fishing regulations for lake trout in Haliburton County (south-central Ontario). Evans’ team is also investigating the effectiveness of fish stocking in combination with slot size regulations.
Lake trout grow very slowly and mature late in life, so their populations are especially sensitive to high fishing pressure. Slot-size regulations and stocking are two quite different management techniques designed to solve the problem of overexploitation of slow growing stocks of wild lake trout.
Evans’ study examines different harvest and stocking scenarios over an extended period of time from 2000 to 2010 across four lakes in Haliburton County.
What we found out
• slot-size regulations
By reducing fishing mortality, researchers saw that slot size regulations clearly protected lake trout of prime spawning ages (6 to10 years) by reducing fishing mortality. This shows that regulations are an effective management approach for ensuring the long-term sustainability of wild lake trout stocks.
• no slot-size regulations
After slot regulations were removed in two lakes, the rate of people catching and keeping their fish increased dramatically during the first few years. The total harvest of fish then fell back to pre-slot amounts showing that high fishing pressure has depleted these populations.
• stocked and no size limits
Stocking in the absence of a slot-size regulation provided some incentive for anglers but could not counteract the impacts of high fishing pressure and high mortality rates, placing the population at risk.
• stocked…but with size restrictions
Stocking has not proved to be a “hook” for anglers when slot-size regulations are in place, because what anglers are allowed to keep (based on size) is restricted to provide protection for the highly vulnerable, mature adults.
What’s the verdict?
A management strategy that combines slot-size protection with stocking of lakes with poorer habitat seems to be the best approach for providing both angling opportunities and ensuring the long-term future for Ontario’s native lake trout.
