Monitoring and State of the Resource Reporting

Monitoring our fish and the health of our lakes is an important part of fisheries management. Monitoring provides fisheries managers with the information they need to make effective decisions for each zone. This information also allows us to report on the state of the fisheries.

The monitoring program supports fisheries management and allows us to evaluate how well we are meeting our goals, by:

• Estimating the current status, trends and changes in Ontario’s fish and waterbodies
• Describing the geographic distribution, extent and diversity of aquatic ecosystems in Ontario
• Identifying connections between stresses (natural or human-induced) and condition of aquatic resources
• Providing assessments and reports on the state of Ontario’s fisheries.

There are two primary types of monitoring used to help manage inland lake fisheries: broadscale and intensive monitoring.

Broadscale monitoring is the collection of a small amount of information on a large number of lakes. The number of lakes selected and what gets measured are limited to only what is needed for managing and reporting on the condition of the resource. Management decisions will be based on this type of monitoring.  For more information, refer to the fact sheet Monitoring the Health of Ontario Inland Lakes (PDF, 110 kb).

Broadscale monitoring will take place on certain lakes in each FMZ every 5 years. It will collect information on sport fish abundance and life history characteristics, fish community diversity and health, aquatic habitat and fishing effort. View a list of the lakes that will be surveyed in 2012.

Intensive monitoring allows us to collect a lot of information on a smaller number of lakes. This information lets us know, in greater detail, what is happening in the lakes over the long term. Intensive monitoring helps support and interpret the results of broadscale monitoring.

We will also use intensive monitoring on several large lakes, with intensive fishing pressure.

Both monitoring and reporting provide increased opportunity for the public to take part in resource management and decision-making. It will also ensure that we at the MNR are transparent and accountable for results.