September 16, 2025 – Watersheds Canada’s Fish Habitat team is delivering a series of spawning bed restoration projects this fall to promote the population growth of declining lake trout and walleye populations across Central-Eastern Ontario.
After two projects in early September, the organization is now looking ahead to two more: one in a lake north of Kingston, and the other just south of Algonquin Park. These projects are delivered in partnership with lake communities that have identified a distinct need to build population resilience for native lake trout and walleye in local lakes.
Given the aquatic nature of the projects, they are often quite complex to deliver safely and successfully. Staff, partner groups, and community volunteers use brushes and a high-powered water hose to first dislodge silt from spawning beds and then catch it downstream in a silt curtain for later disposal. If needed, the beds can be further amended with the supplementation of more stone which can be done manually by hand in the fall or by adding rocks on top of winter ice which then falls into place with the spring melt.
Removing silt is a powerful way to increase the hatching success of lake trout and walleye. Silt limits oxygenation of their eggs, which increases embryonic (early-stage development) mortality. With the silt gone, eggs can hatch as normal, building up the foundation for the exponential population growth of these sensitive fish species in the years following.
These days, this fish habitat restoration work is not only helpful but is needed. Warming temperatures and nutrient input from anthropogenic sources increase algae growth on spawning bed rocks. Erosion as a result of vegetation removal near shorelines increases sediment loads on beds, and these multiple pressures combine to create significant impacts on the hatching success of native fish species.
The work of Watersheds Canada’s Fish Habitat team not only remedies these problems but also provides population stability to buffer against other issues they face, all while bringing community members together to lead the in-water habitat restoration work. Given that walleye and trout are top predator species, the health of their populations has trickle-down benefits felt by the entire freshwater ecosystem by maintaining stability and balancing the food web.
As a leader in fish habitat restoration and conservation for over a decade, Watersheds Canada has found extreme success in delivering targeted, collaborative, and locally-led and -relevant projects. Watersheds Canada goes beyond words to put boots on the ground and in the water with research-backed projects that provide lasting benefits for Canada’s freshwater ecosystems and their surrounding communities.
Spawning bed restoration projects in 2025 were made possible thanks to financial support from: iA Financial, Bancroft Area Stewardship Council, Echo Foundation, OFAH Community Conservation Fund, Kennebec Lake Association, Springwood Cottage Resort, Ontario Wildlife Federation, and J.P. Bickell Foundation.
The following community partners were instrumental in the planning and delivery of these projects: Lake St. Peter Property Owners Association, Bancroft Area Stewardship Council, North Hastings Community Fish Hatchery, Wollaston Lake Home & Cottage Association, Kennebec Lake Association, Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation, and Baptiste Lake Association.
About Watersheds Canada
Watersheds Canada is a registered Canadian charity (863555223RR0001) dedicated to protecting the country’s freshwater resources and the ecosystems they support. With over twenty years of delivering impactful habitat restoration programs and stewardship initiatives, Watersheds Canada is at the forefront of environmental and freshwater conservation. Learn more at Watersheds.ca
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Media Contact
Melissa Dakers
Habitat and Stewardship Program Manager
Watersheds Canada
dakers (at) watersheds.ca