The Majestic “Notty” Moonlight Bay Cottages – North Bay 1958 Glengarry Cottages 1966 Topics for Today •The Notty •The Nottawasaga Steelheaders • Great Fishery, Concerns and Issues •What can we do The Notty ... Majestic Lady Survival of a Great Watershed • Gary Christie • B. Sc. Biology (York) • Training (Sales- Medical & Life Sciences Research Clinical, DNA) • President (Since 2001) Nottawasaga Steelheaders • Passions – Fishing, Wine & Good Friends and…putting a little back with some volunteer work Gary at Wasaga Beach 1957 Nottawasaga The name is derived from Huron First Nation words referring to the “outlet of the river” where Iroquois would attack the Hurons. 1600 km 3500 sq km MW The Notty…did you know? • Notty Basin - 3500 sq km • 3 counties and 18 municipalities • main branch is over 120 km in length • 11 major tributaries >>McIntyre Creek, Little Marl Creek, Marl Creek, Willow Creek, Mad River, Bear Creek, Pine River, Boyne River, Innisfil Creek, Sheldon Creek and the Upper Nottawasaga reaching as far as Orangeville. • many species of fish, including pike, bass, walleye, sturgeon, brown trout, brook trout, rainbow trout, crappie, salmon – 75 Species of Fish • Home of Int’l recognized (RAMSAR) Minesing Wetland • Wasaga Beach historically important –War of 1812. HMS Nancy sunk defending great lakes • Notty was key lumber river in 1800’s and proposed rail line to Toronto from Wasaga Beach • Notty basin formed by Pleistocene era glaciers 20, 000 years ago • 3 Geological Features - Niagara Escarpment - Rolling Moraines - Broad Simcoe flatlands and Minesing Wetlands • Shale and limestone bedrock 300M + years old • Major water contribution from cool springs & ground water • 1900 farms comprising 150,000 hectares • Watershed population ~ 200,000 (Barrie 120,000) The Nottawasaga Steelheaders (since 1993) A group of concerned anglers, naturalists, landowners and individuals working in partnerships with public agencies, government and comMunities to preserve the integrity of the Nottawasaga River watershed The Nottawasaga Steelheaders Thank Our Partners NVCA MNR-Midhurst MNR - Upper Great Lakes ManageMent Unit Alliston & South Simcoe Essa Streams Committee Wasaga Prov Park Nottawasaga Futures Work Projects in Conjunction with NVCA, MNR & SSSC • Fish lifts (Earl Rowe and Nicholston) • Log jaM reMovals • Tree plantings • Fish spawning habitat iMproveMent • Garbage pick-ups • StreaM bank stabilizations • DaM decomMissioning (On-line pond removal) • Stream re-engineering (Meander & bank stabil’n) Fish Lifts & Assessments Flooding and Log JaMs Working to MiniMize iMpacts to fish Migration & to coMMunities …Before …After ManMade Barriers - DaMs •Barriers to Fish Migration •Impacts to Water Quality •Nicholson DaM, Earl Rowe StreaM Restoration Brienza Property Hwy 124 Before After After …Before … After Willow Creek Rehab Boyne River Pine River Rehab ...before Pine River Rehab...after Tree Plants – Bring Back Riparian Cover Riparian Cover!! Partnerships!! “One Man May not be able to Move a boulder… …But Many can Move a Mountain” …froM the Mega Quarry Meeting of the Minds 2011 Highlands CoMpany – Mega Quarry (Pine River) 2400 acres x $6 Million/acre 16 puMps (to remove water) – Running “eternity” Size>>>¼ of Downtown Toronto!!! Development 2016 Census – 479,000 40% Watershed Status Steelhead Surveys 4 Year Study of Nottawasaga Steelhead – 2000 scale samples and 30 MNR approved Members Totals Number of SaMples By Year (4 Year Study – 30 MNR Approved Anglers) • (Year 1) Sept 2011 - May 30, 2012: 439 • (Year 2) Sept 2012 - May 31, 2012: 576 • (Year 3) Sept 2013 - May 31, 2013: 385 • Year 4) Sept 2014 - May 31, 2015: 419 • Total 2011- 2015 1819 • Cost 1819 x 6.50/Sample = $11,823.50 +Tax ( 14.58% Tax + Shipping ) = $13,547.00 Scale Aging Revelation Repeat Spawner Checks Lake Growth Stream growth •The most valuable information gathered •An indicator of exploitation •Repeat spawners determined through scale analysis •Repeat spawners are very important to population health The Notty Fish • Migratory Species: Steelhead, Brown Trout, Lake Trout, Chinook Salmon, Pink Salmon, Walleye, Lake Sturgeon (Species at Risk- Threatened!!) • Resident Species: Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout, Pike, Bass (Large & Small Mouth), Crappie • Overall Number of Species: 75 • Fish Ladders: 2 (Nicholston, Earl Rowe) • Catch & Release for Steelhead - Pine River to Boyne River confluences • Steelhead...Very Plastic (Adaptive) • Preliminary Findings from Study Indicate 10% Shrinkage! Rainbow Trout (Steelhead) (Oncorhyncus Mykiss) Size Avg 8-20” (Inland Lakes) 20-34” (Great Lakes) Nottawasaga Rainbow Trout • Native to West Coast - McCloud River (N. Calif) strain • Introduced to Great Lakes in 1870’s when pond dams breached in Upper Notty (Nottawasaga) and Ausable Rivers (Michigan) • Nottawasaga River rainbow has the largest known genetic diversity of any Ontario river system with 18 known distinct strains or genotypes and genetic diversity of 89.9% • Anglers can fish for steelhead all year round for 70km and 500km during open season. • Can see in colour- In red-blue wavelengths (similar to humans) - In yellow-green wavelengths (better than humans) • Can travel 0 to 23 mph in 1 second • Taste and smell 1000’s of times more sensitive than humans • 5-6th year can obtain lengths of 30”+ • Steelhead have been known to spawn up to 6 times over life span • No longer staying in lower Nottawasaga during migration Steelhead (Rainbow Trout) Female Male Where have the steelhead gone? Scientists Puzzled by Dead & Erratic Steelhead in the Salmon River and other Lake Ontario Tributaries “ NY DepartMent of Environmental Conservation” 2014 Ice Cover 92% 2015 Ice Cover 88.5%! Lake Huron and Georgian Bay Steelhead Populations Affected • 60 % of Steelhead diet aquatic and land Insects • 2014 Severe freeze iMpacts…winter insect kill • Changes in health and behaviour characteristics • 2014 runs dismal across all year classes • All LH and GBay tributaries – poor runs • 2015 Severe freeze again • Forage DynaMics Change – CliMate Change The ThiaMine (VitaMin B1) Factor Lake Ontario Tribs • Essential for growth •Important for sexual maturation and development • Lack can cause neural daMage & death •Alewife, Major food for salMon •Alewife contain ThiaMinase EnzyMe •Breaks down Vit. B1 (ThiaMine) > Growth and Neural •Steelhead have had to revert to More alewife due to decrease in insect forage - harsh winter •Wild salMon and steelhead susceptible •Studies and papers support this reason!! • Harsh winter May have iMpacted alewife •Studies indicate that leaner (lower lipids) alewife uptake bacteria source (gut) of ThiaMinase •Conversely healthier fatter alewife have lower levels of ThiaMinase (Cornell University, GLLabFor Fisheries & Aquatic Sciences, Mich.DNR and Mich. US Geological Survey) Spawning Pair of Brook Trout Over a Redd DiMinishing NuMbers ! Chinook SalMon • Chinook and Coho Salmon planted in the 1960’s to lower alewife boom & create a sport fishery • 40% of Lake Huron Chinook Salmon are of Nottawasaga Origin- Recent UWO study 2012!! • Recent studies in 2005 show 100% of Nottawasaga Chinook salmon are wild! (Speaks to the health and diversity of the Nottawasga River) • Chinook, Rainbow and Walleye are strong contributors to a $7 B Great Lakes Fishery • Migrate using olfactory guidance of particulate flow • Development and land use pressures could impact migratory ability of both rainbow and chinook salmon White Sturgeon Threatened!! Walleye Once abundant…now rare!! Shallow Wetland Spawner in Minesing Wetlands Minesing Wetlands Minesing Wetlands •6000 Hectares = ~ 15,000 Acres •Int’l Recognized RAMSAR Convention- One of 2100 globally important wetlands •206 Species of Birds with 114 Breeder Birds •5th Largest Heron Breeding Grounds •One of the largest deer yards in Ontario •Spawning area for numerous fish including rare Walleye (one of 2 wetland spawners in N. America) •Migratory route for numerous fish •Important water filter and river flow/flood regulator •Sources of water include aquifers (distant & near) •Since 1953 Deciduous Forest cover down by 37%! Don River ReMoval of the wetland reduces its ability to absorb flooding Lower Notty has a Fair/Poor rating (2013 NVCA Report) Increasing Algae Levels in Nottawasaga Bay Due to Nutrient Load froM Nottawasaga River Wasaga Beach SuMMer 2013 High Nutrient Load/Phosphorus > Algae > IMpacts ClostridiuM BotulinuM (Botulin) Contaminants froM Waste Water TreatMent Plant IMpacting Fish- Male Fish with Eggs (Grand River, Kitchener) Fish Taken Below Waste Water TreatMent Plant The Notty’s Concerns • Pressures from land use change, growth and development • Impacts to Nottawasaga watershed from nutrient load and phosphates (Algae) • Impacts to essential features including wetlands, Riparian canopy cover and streamside buffer zones. • Warm water run-off impacts >> reduces cold water delivery • Water draw from aquifers could impact environment and ecology elsewhere • EC’s (Emerging Contaminants) Waste water treatment plants can’t handle new contaminants, nano-silver, pharmaceuticals, sweet H20, biobeads Will he have a clean river to catch fish or drink froM?? “ We Did Not Inherit The Earth froM our Parents… We Borrowed It froM Our Children” It’s up to you – Get Involved!! Thank you for helping us… “put a little back” …The Nottawasaga Steelheaders .