Funds help conservation groups protect inland fisheries

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans is making a concerted effort to protect Canadas fisheries through the Recreational Fisheries Conservation Partnerships Program.

The program aims to create partnerships between groups across Ontario to sustain and ensure the productivity of Canadas fisheries, by focusing on projects that show ongoing results year over year.

The government pledged a total of $10 million to the program, with $4 million being allocated in 2013-14, and $6 million slated for 2014-15.

Conservation and angler groups were able to apply for funding, as the DFO says fishing-based groups are equally responsible for supporting the sustainability of recreational fisheries.

DFO says anglers and recreational fisheries contributed $8.3 billion to Canadas economy in 2010.

Individual groups were able to apply for funding up to $250,000 for their projects each year, as long as the government grant only accounted for 50 per cent or less of the programs total funding.

The Canadian government provided $1.4 million to 18 projects in Ontario that received approval for funding to restore, rebuild and rehabilitate fisheries in the province.

Wellington-Halton Hills Conservative MP Michael Chong announced a grant of $35,000 for one such project in the Township of Puslinch, Ont.

"Working with local environmental groups to rehabilitate fish habitat, the Government of Canada is helping to restore fisheries habitat in our province, for the benefit of our communities in years to come," Chong said in a news release.

Friends of Mill Creek (FMC), a grassroots organization in Puslinch, started its work rehabilitating Mill Creek in 1997. These "friends" took on the responsibility and money for this particular project.

FMC president Brad Whitcombe says rehabilitating local creeks and stream beds leads to a healthier population of fish, which keeps the ecosystem balanced.

He says the group has outfitted Mill Creek with devices to monitor seasonal temperatures, which allow FMC to work on stream rehabilitation when needed.

This includes projects like narrowing the stream, eliminating shallow ponds that grow around it, or cleaning silt out of the bed.

Whitcombe says the group, which includes people from Ontarios Ministry of Natural Resources and the local conservation authority, achieved definite results by monitoring the stream through the year.

According to Whitcombe, funding projects like these has the added benefit of getting youth involved in conservation.

He says many teenagers who were involved in FMCs summer program went on to build careers in conservation.

"Especially with our ranger program, its young people are understanding and getting a worthwhile experience," Whitcombe says. "Through the ranger program, we employ four 17-year-olds every summer."

Whitcombe says the programs that they can run through government funding help give youth a greater appreciation for the environment, leaving them better prepared to deal with it in the future.

"Those 17-year-old young people that are inheriting this are learning to respect it, and I think thats such a good thing," Whitcombe says.

Shamit Tushakiran is a 4th-year journalism student at Carleton University in Ottawa. This story is part of a project by the Carleton School of Journalism on federal spending announcements in 2013.