2019 Mary Jane’s Creek Walleye Spawning Bed Enhancement
Watersheds Canada received funding from Cabela’s Canada Outdoor Fund and the LUSH Charity Pot for the Mary Jane’s Creek walleye spawning bed restoration project. This creek is found near Westport, Ontario and was chosen for its potential to increase the Walleye spawning habitat available downstream of the dam on Mary Jane’s Creek. Walleye spawning beds are typically gravel shoals or rocky shallows with wave action present. Flowing or moving water oxygen in the water facilitates the spawning.
Individuals from the Westport Area Outdoors Association, local volunteers, Tackaberry G & Sons Construction Co Ltd., and Watersheds Canada placed a total of 108 tonnes of washed river stone in and along the banks of the creek. Before the stones were placed in the water, silt curtains were put up to limit the amount of sediment moved off site and any possible impacts on the surrounding system.
This Walleye spawning bed restoration occurred on October 3, 2019 and was generously funded by the LUSH Charity Pot and Cabela’s Canada Outdoor Fund. It would not have succeeded without the combined efforts of Watersheds Canada, the Westport Area Outdoors Association, Tackaberry G & Sons Construction Co Ltd., and all the volunteers who assisted.
Since the walleye bed enhancement in 2019, volunteers from the Westport Area Outdoors Association have completed annual walleye spawning observation surveys and submitted the findings to the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. In the first year alone, the walleye spawning bed was well used, with fish being observed most evenings in April 2020. This is an encouraging sign that walleye are returning to the area, and we look forward to their populations continuing to recover for years to come!
In partnership with grassroots organizations and local volunteers, Watersheds Canada has completed many fish habitat restoration projects across Eastern and Central Ontario over the past nine years, including walleye spawning bed enhancements, cold-water creek enhancements, trout spawning bed enhancements, and in-water habitat enhancements through the deployment of brush piles (woody debris). If you think your Ontario waterfront community could benefit from a fish habitat enhancement project, please check out the free Fish Habitat Enhancement Toolkit: Watersheds.ca/download-the-fish-habitat-enhancement-toolkit/
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