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Ecowrappin'
Ducks Unlimited certainly more than just ducks
Tuesday, December 31, 2002
An advertisement from Ducks Unlimited Canada in the latest "Ontario Outdoors" magazine inspired this column. I am including it with the column and I hope that CK Times will see fit to include it as an illustration.It has a picture of a young boy having just caught a fish. It talks about wetlands, as a feeding and nursery area for fish. It describes how many of us learned to cast near the weeds because that is "Where to catch fish."
The advertisement infers that the work of DUC benefits many species other than waterfowl. Historically, our main support has come from duck hunters. It is the roots of the organization and we are very proud of that history. As I have stated in previous articles, Ducks Unlimited Canada is not just about ducks anymore.
Restoring, protecting and enhancing wetlands has many benefits other than just to waterfowl. We now look to many other people and organizations in order to achieve our vision. This time I will discuss fish and their habitat, and how the work of DUC works to their advantage.
Some of the work we do is criticized for actually excluding fish as a consideration. I believe this comes into play where the wetlands are dyked and have pumps installed to control the water level. Fish do not have ready access to use the wetland as spawning ground. However it is important to understand that if the lake level is too low it would not be a wetland and if the level is too high it would flood out and drown the marsh. In either case, fish would not benefit. When the level is comparable to the level in the marsh, the pipes are left open and fish use them to enter and exit quality habitat.
In wetlands where fish populations are a priority, we will go to considerable expense in designing and building wetlands that provide an access for fish. In these cases it could mean deeper excavations in order to connect the wetland to the lake level no matter how low it goes, or a special device called a fish ladder that allows the fish continual access through a control structure.
At other projects, like the Francis Peers Wetland, just northeast of Wallaceburg, a riverine marsh is dyked to capture and hold onto the spring flow water that tops the dyke. Fish can move in or out during the high flow times of Otter Creek.
Wetlands tend to act as a sponge soaking up large amounts of water. Their filtering benefits lower the level of nutrients and sediments in the water making it cleaner and better for them. If the wetlands are located along streams and creeks they will also hold the water longer and reduce the flashiness of the river levels. That may mean that in the long hot summers there is still a baseline flow in the river. It is hard to keep a healthy fish population in the creeks if all the water runs out in the spring.
I believe that much of the concern regarding fish habitat comes from people who expect us to completely restore creation‚. While many of us share in that disappointment, the truth is we have to work in a practical world, and often with a limited budget. The landscape of Southwestern Ontario has been significantly changed and we work with what we have and seize opportunities to do our work where we can.
A DUC colleague of mine recently spoke at a large meeting of Conservation Authority staff, Department of Fisheries and Oceans staff and others. I wish I had been there to hear it. Apparently in his presentation he talked about how the work of DUC has been benefiting fish. His conclusion was that although fish are not our focus, Ducks Unlimited Canada is still doing more for fish habitat in Ontario than everybody else together.
Darrell Randell works for Ducks Unlimited Canada as a Conservation Programs Specialist in South West Ontario. Before that he was a Lambton County Pork Producer for 25 years. He served 2 terms on Sombra Township Council, 1994-2000, and is currently a councillor in St Clair Township. He is a past president of the Lambton County Federation of Agriculture. He was a founding member of the Rural Lambton Stewardship Network and served as chairman of that group from 1995-2003. He and Nancy have 3 grown children, each of whom they are extremely proud.
