The Park

The sand and gravel close to shorelines may be the floor fish's habitats. For example salmon lay their eggs in gravel. No gravel means no salmon.

While this may be an important source of construction materials, it is important to first make sure that the area is not an important one for fish. If it is, either dig somewhere else, or make sure there is plan to restore the area when the digging is finished.

Water that goes down the drain is full of waste that can be very dangerous to fish and to fish habitat. High organic and bacterial loads cause disease and reduce the amount of oxygen in the water. Chemicals and toxins can harm fish directly.

It is very important for cities and towns to properly treat wastewater at sewage treatment facilities before putting the water back into nature. Sewage treatment plants however, can be overwhelmed if they have to handle too much sewage or if there are toxins or other garbage in the water that should not be there. In towns and cities, people must be careful not to use excessive amounts of water or to flush toxic materials (e.g. paint thinner or oil) down the drain. The same is true in rural areas where dangerous waste can escape from septic systems.

Most rainwater that falls in cities flows into storm drains. Most storm drains empty directly into nearby lakes and rivers. Anything that gets washed down the storm drains ends up directly in fish habitats.

Don't pour waste down storm drains. Wash your car on the lawn. That way the soap gets soaked into the ground instead of going down the drain. Pick up after your pet, otherwise when it rains, the waste will end up in a fish's living room.

Rainwater that washes through garbage dumps may flow into lakes and rivers, carrying toxins and garbage into fish habitat.

Reduce, reuse and recycle. Compost your organic waste (but not close to water). By reducing the amount of waste that goes to the dump, we reduce the number of dumps that we need.

Application of too much fertilizer causes unnecessary runoff into waterways. Fertilizer causes excessive amounts of algae to grow. This throws off the balance of the ecosystem and only the most pollution-resistant fish will remain.

Only use as much fertilizer as is needed. Maintain buffer zones with lots of trees and plants along waterways. That way, the plants can take up any excess fertilizer before it reaches the water.

Herbicides are meant to kill weeds. Pesticides are designed to kill bugs. Both may actually be dangerous to fish.

Pesticides and herbicides sprayed outdoors may be washed by rainwater from farms, lawns and gardens into fish habitat. Use these chemicals only when really necessary and be sure not to use excess amounts.

Vegetation along shorelines may be removed to maximize land use, to provide access to the water, or sometimes just to improve the view. Plants along the shoreline do a lot to protect fish habitat. Without them, lots of good fish habitat may become degraded.

Maintain a buffer zone along waterways at least 15 to 30 m wide. Roots help hold the banks together to prevent erosion. Plants buffer the shoreline from waves and boat wakes. Trees provide shade, keeping the water cool enough for fish in the summer. Plants take up extra nutrients in surface water runoff that would otherwise end up in the water and cause too much algae to grow.

After clearing riparian vegetation, the banks are sometimes reinforced with walls to try and prevent erosion. The loss of very shallow water along the shore is a direct loss of fish habitat. Worse still, water flows faster along a hard wall. That means that there will be more erosion (and more loss of fish habitat) downstream from the wall.

The best bet is to leave the shoreline untouched. Don't build walls to prevent erosion. If it is necessary to reinforce or rebuild banks, restore the grade to a natural slope and include local native vegetation in the redevelopment.

Culverts are large pipes built under the roads to allow water in streams and small rivers to flow from one side to the other. Because the stream must narrow through the pipe, it can back up and slow down on one side, causing sediment to build up. This sediment can cover over and damage fish habitat.

Bridges have much less of an effect on the flow of a river and so are better for fish habitat.

When forests are clear-cut, the ground is exposed. Wind and rain can carry soil into waterways making the water too muddy for most fish.

Always follow environmental guidelines for forestry. Leave wide strips of forest along all waterways as buffer zones.

Possibly the most important element of fish habitat is water. Removing water can lower water levels, causing shallow fish habitat areas to dry up.

If water is removed, as much as possible, it should be put back. However, make sure that it is at least as clean as when you first got it. Fish don't like it when you borrow their water and return it dirty. It should also be the same temperature. Fish are very particular about water temperatures. Water used as a coolant may be clean when it returns to nature but if it's too hot, it can drive fish away.

Mining is very important to Canada's economy. However mine tailings (the left-over rock waste from mines) are often very high in toxic metals. These metals can leak into local waterways poisoning fish and their food.

Runoff from mine tailing sites must be treated to remove any metals before reaching fish habitat. One possible way to do this is by building constructed wetlands.