Research priorities for the management of freshwater fish habitat in Canada

Abstract

Effective management of freshwater fish habitat is essential to supporting healthy aquatic ecosystems and sustainable fisheries. In Canada, recent changes to the Fisheries Act enhanced the protection of fish habitat, but application of those provisions relies on sound scientific evidence. We employed collaborative research prioritization methods to identify scientific research questions that, if addressed, would significantly advance the management of freshwater fish habitat in Canada. This list was generated by a diverse group of freshwater fish experts, including substantial contributions from practitioners who administer provisions of the Fisheries Act. The research questions generated in this study identify priority topics for future research, while highlighting issues that could be addressed with different funding models. As a result, this study should support evidence-based management of Canada’s aquatic resources by identifying scientific knowledge gaps faced by practitioners, and suggesting funding mechanisms to address them. Given the important contribution of Canadian freshwater systems to global ecosystem values, and the similar scientific challenges facing fish habitat managers in other jurisdictions, this study is likely to have broad applicability.

Nearshore fish community changes along the Toronto waterfront in accordance with management and restoration goals: Insights from two decades of monitoring

“…While this study was aimed to capture overall community and population changes along the Toronto Waterfront, future studies will consider stressors in combination with restoration efforts to estimate their overall effect on community changes. Identifying primary drivers for community changes will be helpful to put restoration effectiveness into perspective and be able to prioritize stressors and target areas associated with said stressors [ 9 , 68 , 104 , 105 ]. The next step will be to evaluate each restored site and its larger role within the spatial context of the waterfront under consideration of proximity to biodiversity hotspots, stressors, and interaction with adjacent sites.…”

What makes a bank a bank? Differences and commonalities in credit calculation, application, and risks in mitigation banks targeting freshwater systems

“…First, habitat suitability-based crediting and debiting approaches require the use of habitat prioritization by de ning essential sh habitats. Habitat prioritization for a species or a speci c habitat is based on main ecological functions, sensitivity to decline, likelihood to experience stress from development, and rarity of habitat (Dey et al, 2021;Levin & Stunz, 2005; Fig. 4).…”

Assessment of Fish Habitats and Suitable Ecological Flow under Hydropower Operation

“…The protection of fish habitats has gradually become a hot point for the study of river ecosystems in recent years [10][11][12]. Through ecological operation and the construction of ecological engineering, suitable hydrodynamic conditions can be provided for the growth of fish [13,14].…”