The Credit River is not the only show in town when it comes to efforts to restore the province’s only native salmon species to Lake Ontario.
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| Improved habitat on Duffins Creek draws spawning Atlantic salmon. Photo: Marion Daniels/MNR |
The curtain has also gone up on a major project on Duffins Creek in Durham Region, to create and improve spawning habitat. This and the Credit River project, along with work on Cobourg Brook in Northumberland County, are part of a broad effort to restore self-sustaining populations of Atlantic salmon.
The project partners will install fencing along various stretches of bank in the Duffins Creek watershed to keep cattle from polluting the stream and destroying spawning beds. Crews will also plant trees along creek banks. This will help prevent eroded soil sediments and farm nutrients from entering the water. The additional shade will also help lower water temperatures.
At the same time, Ministry of Natural Resources biologists will be looking for returning first-time spawners and for signs of spawning behaviour at select locations along Duffins Creek. The presence of nests or “redds” in the gravel of the creek bed is a good indicator of possible spawning activity.
Ministry biologists will also locate and record most of the barriers on the main streams in the Duffins Creek watershed. Atlantic salmon need excellent water quality and habitat conditions; they thrive in cold, clear, fast-flowing waters.
Barriers in streams can cause problems for fish passage. They can also warm water temperatures and slow water flow so that soil sediments and silt are not carried downstream.
Biologists will be examining larger man-made dams, weirs and other water control structures (including beaver dams) built to hold back water; and they’ll look at perched or long, impassable culverts. Each barrier will be assessed: How much does it influence water temperature? How much sediment does it collect? Then, biologists will work with interested landowners to remove or redesign some barriers to lessen their impacts.
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| An Atlantic salmon fingerling. Photo: MNR-2007 COA-Jason Mortlock |
Duffins Creek is one of only three Lake Ontario streams chosen for restoration of this species. If these pilot projects are successful, then the project will be expanded to include other streams. The immediate goal of these efforts is to improve water quality for the Atlantic salmon but other native fish species, such as brook trout and the endangered redside dace, will most certainly benefit.
Atlantic salmon could be described, culturally and historically, as Ontario’s most important fish. The salmon’s ancestors were saltwater fish that adapted to freshwater after the glaciers retreated. Atlantic salmon once teemed down tributaries into Lake Ontario and became a major food source for early settlers in Upper Canada.
This Great Lakes fish species disappeared from Lake Ontario and its tributaries in the late 1800s because of habitat destruction and over-fishing in both its spawning streams and the lake.
Click here to view a map of the project area
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Some Background on Atlantic Salmon Restoration
• Since May 2006, more than 2.5 million young Atlantic salmon have been stocked in Duffins Creek (Durham Region), Cobourg Brook (Northumberland County) and the Credit River (Mississauga). Stocking and the restoration of tributary habitats have started to show signs of success, with maturing salmon returning to some of tributaries during 2008 and 2009.
• The Credit River, Duffins Creek and Cobourg Brook were chosen for restoration because of their gravel stream beds (ideal for salmon spawning and nursery habitat) and because of strong support for restoration in the surrounding communities.
• Atlantic salmon are an important part of the natural and cultural heritage of the Lake Ontario basin, and their presence reflects improvements in the health of our watersheds. More than 50 conservation-minded individuals and organizations are working together to restore this treasured native species to Lake Ontario. Find out more at www.bringbackthesalmon.ca
Project Partners and Sponsors:
- Australia’s Banrock Station Wines
- Local landowners
- Liquor Control Board of Ontario
- Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters
- Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
- Toronto and Region Conservation Authority
- York Stewardship Council
For more information, contact:
- Alastair Mathers, Lake Ontario Basin COA Coordinator, Lake Ontario Management Unit, Ministry of Natural Resources, Picton (613) 476-8733
- Warren May, Area Biologist, Ministry of Natural Resources, Aurora (905) 713-7390