Bobcaygeon spawning bed April 2018 (spawning time)—completely out of the water!
The ecosystem is a low priority for the Trent-Severn Waterway. Walleye have paid the price.
Goal #1: Stop the TSW from dropping water to environmentally-destructive low levels in winter & spring—especially during spawning season
Goal #2: Start using environmentally-friendly stop log dams to manage water and stop relying so heavily on destructive hydraulic dams
How did this happen?
The short answer is that the Trent-Severn Waterway puts navigation above the environment and the MNRF’s 2009 Fisheries Management Plan hasn’t been executed at all. For 50 years the TSW has made money off the touring public and the MNRF has made money off a fishery that isn’t enforced.
- The Trent-Severn Waterway keeps water too low for fish to survive in winter, diverts water away from spawning beds in spring, and relies solely on hydraulic dams during spawning season when stop logs are needed most.
How the TSW FAILED the fishery
- The Trent-Severn Waterway keeps water too low for fish to survive in winter (they suffocate in shallow areas and freeze to death where the water drains to the lake bottom).
- The TSW diverts water away from spawning beds in spring
- The TSW relies solely on hydraulic dams during spawning season when stop logs are needed most.
- Spawning fish don’t have proper rubble or current breaks on the spawning beds—we need to repair the base.
- Eggs that do hatch are fragile. They die when the water drops too soon
- Newly hatched walleye are fragile. The high-velocity current from the hydraulic dams sucks them in where the die.
How the MNRF FAILED the fishery
- MNRF says “not our fault” while cutting back on signage and skimping on slot-size pamphlets and rulers
- The MNRF keeps the winter “panfishery” open knowing full well walleye are taken more often than panfish
- Winter walleye poaching isn’t enforced so it’s open season to pull walleye from the ice that would have spawned in spring.
- Summer walleye poaching isn’t enforced so it’s open season to pull walleye out of slot size from the lake in season.
- There’s no funding for conservation studies
- No fingerling stocking
- Peterborough MNRF has shamefully mismanaged the fishery into the ground. And their response when we plead for some kind of action? “Prove it.”
How the TSW could SAVE the walleye fishery
- Pull some logs! Use stop log dams more and harmful hydraulic (push button) dams less.
- Use stop logs for larger volume calculations and hydraulic dams for fine-tune adjustments.
- Maintain a higher minimum water level year round for the health of the ecosystem.
- Provide fish-friendly water levels and flows during spawning season (March/April)
- Manage flows year round with consistent, gradual volume changes—stop drastic on/off (huge volume/no volume) management
- Make conserving the fishery more of a priority
- Use a small portion of the $285 million in infrastructure money given to the TSW by the federal government in 2015 (or hydro generation revenues) to pay for the permits and impact studies required to restore the spawning beds
- Parks Canada spent $3 billion dollars over 5 years on marine conservation across Canada, but not a single cent was allocated to conserving walleye in the Kawarthas.
How the MNRF could SAVE the walleye fishery
- put pressure on the TSW to protect aquatic life first and support navigation second
- put pressure on the TSW to use natural floodplains in the spring freshet
- enforce MNRF regulations
- educate with signs and literature (with licenses, at launches, on the highways…)
- support river spawning bed enhancements (our pilot projects in Bobcaygeon and Lindsay)
- do something about the exploding pan fishery
- close the winter “pan fishery.”Anglers aren’t fishing panfish in winter! Winter fishing creates a rampant unenforced season of walleye poaching. Winter fishing is destroying what’s left of the walleye population—it must close in Zone 17!
- act on the MNRF 2009 fisheries management plan, created by the MNRF, but not executed in any capacity
- Use fishing licence revenues to stock fingerlings, enforce regulations, and stock walleye fingerlings
- support/partner with Kawartha Conservation to conduct baseline research and annual subsequent research to measure walleye decline or improvement
The Trent-Severn Waterway has known since 2011 that water mismanagement is destroying the ecosystem
An AECOM study advised Parks Canada that
- a gradual winter draw down in September would benefit the environment. The current drawdown regime in October gives boat traffic a longer season, but hurts the ecosystem.
- a higher minimum winter water level in winter would respect natural levels and protect a range of aquatic species that depend on water cover for survival. Current winter water levels are way below recommended minimums.
- navigation-level waters in summer are too high for shoreline nesting birds in May and June.
But the Trent-Severn Waterway (Parks Canada) didn’t listen to their own commissioned study (see graph below).
The takeaway:
The natural environment doesn’t matter as much as navigation when it comes to water levels. Water is unnaturally high in summer and unnaturally low the rest of the year. The timing of the drawdown is off, and flow changes are drastic.
Species under the waterline freeze and suffocate with too little water in winter. This includes fish, frogs, turtles, snails, and caddisflies. Harm is also done to beavers and muskrat. Species fail to reproduce because water doesn’t support them.
At the very least, this ecological destruction is inhumane and irresponsible. At worst, it’s negligent.
Kawartha Conservation has volunteered to test:
- if using stop log dams to move water naturally from the lake surface will improve the health of the walleye fishery and the overall health of the ecosystem
- if oxygen levels are better when water spills over the stop log dams instead of being forced under the hydraulic dams (which open from the bottom).
- if water quality improves in the Kawartha Lakes when stop logs are used more and hydraulic gates used less.
stories
A LACK OF CARE AT BOTH LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT
(and share your own)
Moose Country Minute
Outdoor Journal
Outdoor Journal
How our government killed the fishery
TSW: Without a minimum water level
Ecologically important bays drain down to the bedrock.
fish struggle to survive (so do beaver, muskrat, frogs, snails, turtles, shad flies…)
Marshes over-silt and fill in with weeds (habitat loss because the spring freshet isn’t allowed to wash them out)
MNRF: Without education and regulation
the public doesn’t know what slot sizes apply to what lakes without signs at boat launches or highway billboards
- Spawning-sized walleye (the big ones) are poached because there’s no enforcement
winter fishing decimates walleye in winter because poaching isn’t enforced
TSW: Without spawning bed repair
Water fluctuations are felt more severely
high areas end up exposed
- current breaks aren’t provided (for spawning fish to rest behind)
- high-velocity, bottom-opening hydraulic dams scour bedrock
MNRF: Without proper management
the exploding pan fishery has tipped the balance. Hundreds of thousands of crappie and blue gill eat walleye eggs
invasive species like zebra mussels and pike make lasting damage
Let the Ministers of Environment (federal) and Natural Resources and Forestry (provincial) know that the walleye fishery needs immediate attention!
TSW — The health of our fishery and environment is tied to water management. Nature should matter.
MNRF — Shameful inaction, no enforcement, and winter fishing has destroyed the fishery.
TRENT-SEVERN WATERWAY (fed)
Federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change for Canada (MOE)
STEVEN GUILBEAULT
Telephone: 514-522-1339
Trent-Severn Waterway Headquarters in Peterborough
DAVE BRITTON
Ont.Trentsevern@pc.gc.ca
2155 Ashburnham Dr.,
Peterborough, ON K9J6Z6
Telephone: 705-750-4900
MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES (prov)
Provincial Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF)
JOHN YAKABUSKI john.yakabuskico@pc.ola.org
Phone: (613) 735-6627
Toll-Free: 1-800-267-2515
Fax: (613) 735-6692
Peterborough Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry
TREVOR GRIFFIN
Trevor.Griffin@Ontario.ca
300 Water St. Peterborough, ON K9J3C7
Telephone: 705-755-3363
MNRF feedback form
MNRF TIPS: 1-877-847-7667
TSW — The health of our fishery and our environment is tied to water management. Nature should matter more.
TRENT-SEVERN WATERWAY (fed)
Federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change for Canada (MOE)
STEVEN GUILBEAULT
Telephone: 514-522-1339
Trent-Severn Waterway Headquarters in Peterborough
DAVE BRITTON
Ont.Trentsevern@pc.gc.ca
2155 Ashburnham Dr.,
Peterborough, ON K9J6Z6
Telephone: 705-750-4900
MNRF — Shameful inaction has harmed the fishery.
The new Provincial Minister of Natural Resources and Foresty (MNRF)
JOHN YAKABUSKI john.yakabuskico@pc.ola.org
84 Isabella Street, Unit 6
Pembroke, Ontario
K8A 5S5
Phone: (613) 735-6627
Toll-Free: 1-800-267-2515
Fax: (613) 735-6692
Peterborough Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry
TREVOR GRIFFIN
Trevor.Griffin@Ontario.ca
300 Water St. Peterborough, ON K9J3C7
Telephone: 705-755-3363
MNRF feedback form
MNRF TIPS: 1-877-847-7667
Tell the Ministers of Environment and Natural Resources and Forestry what is going on. Have your say!
Use the button above to contact both Ministers (at the federal level and the provincial level). Your email will also go to MNRF Peterborough, Trent-Severn Waterway headquarters, and MP Jamie Schmale (who is a strong advocate of our campaign).
The problem: The Trent-Severn Waterway over-controls water and the MNRF under-controls the fishery.
It’s been 7 years since we started the Save The Walleye campaign, but the TSW continues to manage water 100% with hydraulic gates in Bobcaygeon.
Fishing lodges once overflowed in Bobcaygeon and Lindsay. Now the walleye are gone and so are the tourists who injected millions of dollars into our economy.
The walleye fishery thrived until the 1960s when high-velocity hydraulic dams went in along the system. The solution is easy: start using the stop log dams again.
The fishery has dwindled for generations. Now, we’re losing the culture of fishing in the Kawarthas.
“But it’s not just numbers of fish that are changing. In Canada, the number of anglers is waning. More than one in five Canadians was fishing for sport in 1975, according to the federal survey. By 2010, the number was less than one in 10 …That’s despite the fact that the country’s population had grown by nearly half over those same three and a half decades.”
“The MNRF cannot substantiate that spawning habitat is a limiting factor for the walleye population in Sturgeon Lake/Pigeon Lake.”
—Peterborough MNRF
“It would not be feasible to determine if the proposed activity had any substantive effect on walleye spawning and recruitment.”
—Peterborough MNRF
“The MNRF cannot support the proposed changes to the flow regime at the Bobcaygeon dam [enough water to cover the beds] as there is no evidence to suggest that this action would provide positive benefits to the recruitment of walleye.”
—Peterborough MNRF
Give them a fighting chance.
How important is a higher minimum water level to our ecosystem? Read Larry Jones’ report: “Where did all the walleye go?” It’s a great read!
How important is a higher minimum water level to our ecosystem? Read Larry Jones’ report: “Where did all the walleye go?” It’s a great read!
“In the past several years neither my ministry nor TSW have received any substantial reports of fish kills in the Kawartha Lakes.”
—Kathryn McGarry, then Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry.
How is this possible? Does it really take a cottager picking up the phone to tell the MNRF what is happening out there in our lakes?