Our Fish Habitat team doesn’t start by asking what is possible; we ask what needs to be done, and how we can partner with communities to make it happen. Grounded in practicality, research, and collaboration, our work takes direct action to restore critical habitat for native fish. Your donation today will help us continue this important work!

 

 

Watersheds Canada’s fish habitat restoration work plans are resourceful and tenacious, just like our volunteers and supporters. We need your help, too! Your donation of $25, $15, or even $10 to Watersheds Canada will go directly into restoring critical fish habitat for lake trout, walleye, bass, and countless other species. 

Stepping off the shoreline to create and restore fish habitat directly in the water brings many challenges. There is no other way to create such powerful positive impacts for our native fish species.

By centering on actionable objectives and targeted impacts, our program builds up shelter, feeding areas, and spawning areas needed for fish population stability and growth.

Take our brush bundle projects, for example, where our team deploys underwater woody debris on lakebeds to supply fish with feeding spots, shelter, and safe spawning areas:

A picture is worth a thousand words! Here, a smallmouth bass and a sunfish spend time around a brush pile that was deployed by our team the year before.

 

Likewise, our walleye and trout spawning bed rehabilitation projects address a dire problem for these species: the accumulation of silt and algae on the beds due to changing water conditions and on-land actions.

Our teams enhance the substrate through washings that better allow the fish’s eggs to stick to the stone. This greatly increases hatching success and overall population growth. 

A lake trout spawning bed before and after restoration. Clean rock surfaces mean a clean slate for recovering fish populations.

 

For the past few weeks, we have been hard at work delivering fish habitat projects in lakes across Ontario. You can literally see the difference when a clean spawning bed shines from the shore. It looks even better from a lake trout or walleye’s view.

 

 

Thank you for supporting Ontario’s fish,

Melissa Dakers
Habitat and Stewardship Program Manager
Watersheds Canada

 

 

P.S. You can make an even bigger impact for fish habitat restoration work by becoming a monthly donor! Scheduled giving helps us know what money we have available each year to deliver impactful and vital restoration programs like the Fish Habitat program. Donating $10, $20, or even $50 a month — $120, $240, or $600 per year — has a huge impact! Thank you for your generosity.