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| Walleye Fingerlings |
People like you and me. Organizations and governments. Community and conservation groups. Private citizens and generous corporate sponsors - all pitch in to help the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) protect and restore the biological diversity of the Great Lakes. It takes all of us working in close partnerships to make this happen under the umbrella of the Canada-Ontario Agreement Respecting the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem (COA).
Walleye are popular game fish
Many anglers love to try to catch a walleye, a fish with a reputation for being a fighter and a challenge to catch. Eastern Georgian Bay is a well-known area to search for and find them. However in the past 20 to 30 years, MNR staff have noticed a decline in walleye numbers particularly along the eastern coastline of “the Bay.”
Why has the number of walleye declined in Georgian Bay?
To reproduce successfully, walleye need clean, well-oxygenated water, undisturbed habitat and a steady springtime flow of water in their spawning rivers. Many factors may have contributed to the decline in their numbers, but probably the most important one has been a lack of spring water flow in spawning areas. This has been especially noticeable in rivers where water levels fluctuate due to hydro generating practices.
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| Dave Gonder (standing) |
Dave Gonder a Ministry biologist who is working on various projects in the area says that another factor could have been the prevalence of alewives (an accidentally introduced invasive species). Their “crash” in Lake Huron in 2003 has confirmed speculation that alewives ate young walleye and so helped to diminish walleye numbers in the past.
How are partners helping to make changes?
A plan has been developed to help with the recovery of the walleye population in the Moon River area of Georgian Bay, selected for its previous history and potential as a major successful spawning area. A number of partners have joined efforts to rehabilitate existing reproductive habitat. Additional work is being done to re-establish degraded spawning environments – essential for the long-term.
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| Enlarging Walleye Spawning Beds |
To enlarge the existing spawning beds in the lower part of the river, partners placed more than 1,100 tonnes of rock near the beds below the Moon River falls. Then they added clusters of boulders, mounds of granite and stone rubble along the shore to increase the egg incubation area and create a barrier against heavily fluctuating water levels - particularly high water - from hydro plants erected up river. In effect they created a new 1500 sq. km. spawning bed.
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| Eric McIntyre |
Eric McIntyre, coordinator for the Eastern Georgian Bay Stewardship Council working out of Parry Sound, and his Stewardship Council members with the assistance of COA funding, are working with the Ministry to restore walleye populations in Go Home Bay, Tadenac Bay and the Musquash River areas of southeastern Georgian Bay. The regenerative work being done to enhance walleye spawning beds is followed by “seeding” these sites with young walleye that will become future spawning populations.
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| Andy McKee |
Andy McKee, COA Lake Huron Basin coordinator, says it will take many years before any progress can be evaluated completely, but “we’re quite sure that positive benefits will result from the improvements.”
Other native species such as lake sturgeon, for example, will also benefit from these spawning habitat improvements.
What happens when people help?
Andy is typical of most MNR staff and their partners – they want to increase the information, knowledge and awareness of the walleye’s situation in people who live upstream, or who use the river and other feeder streams and watercourses for recreation or industry. Most people, he says, think about the end of a project, not how any activities that take place – such as agriculture, logging, road construction, development for recreation of any kind, increasing hydro power usage – can affect what happens across a complex watershed that is filled with many different ecosystems.
Eric has been pleasantly surprised by the people who help to restore the fish. He says, “I am truly amazed and impressed with the efforts of our partners and volunteers who give so generously of themselves in terms of time, effort and money. They’re what stewardship is all about.”
He adds, “While rehabilitating walleye populations is only one small piece of an infinitely complex puzzle, we should never forget that overall ecosystem health is our ultimate goal.”
You can help! For more information on how to get involved with this project and others, log onto www.helpourfisheries.com
Key sponsors, supporters and partners who help with walleye restoration
• The Eastern Georgian Bay Stewardship Council
• Georgian Bay Biosphere Reserve
• Georgian Bay Land Trust
• Great Lakes Conservancy
• Moon River Walleye Association
• Ontario Power Generation – Evergreen Energy
• Member Associations of the Georgian Bay Association
(i.e., the Sans Souci and Copperhead Associations and Woods Bay Cottage Association)
• Private land owners
• Interested anglers
• Many private land owners
