Southern Ontario hot bed of rare, endangered fish

[MikePal]

I had no idea that the wetlands held such a diversity of rare species. Good to hear that past efforts have protected them.

The latest research tour is a partnership with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources and the University of Toronto.

The group is particularly looking at rare species of fish. Barnucz cites examples like the spotted gar as one of the rare species found in the wetlands, which his team discovered in Rondeau Bay.
The researchers would also like to catch sight of a lake chubsucker, which is a rare fish in Canada, but found in a lot of southern Ontario wetlands.
Stable populations
Barnucz has not noticed a depletion of fish populations in the wetlands over the past decade. He did a similar tour of these sites back in 2002, so this time around is a bit of a nostalgic experience.
He attributes the wetland stability to stewardship programs by groups like Ontario Parks, Parks Canada and the Essex Region Conservation Authority.
"A lot of these areas have a good level of protection and, because of that, we've been very successful at conserving and protecting these areas," he said.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/southern-o...660.html?nhp=1