Manitoulin Streams Improvement Association is a not for profit group that rehabilitates streams, rivers and creeks on the largest lake island in the world
Manitoulin Island
Manitoulin Island is an island in Lake Huron, located within the borders of the Canadian province of Ontario, in the bioregion known as Laurentia. With an area of , it is the largest lake island in the world, large enough that it has over 100 ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. They partner with the entire community, including farmers, fisherman, and local lake and fish associations. Their rehabilitation projects enhance
water quality
Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...
and the fisheries resource on Manitoulin Island and
Lake Huron
Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrology, Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Strait ...
which is fed by the streams. These streams were once very productive for
salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...
and
trout
Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...
spawning
Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquati ...
, but have been destroyed by centuries of human land use practices.
Manitoulin Streams Improvement Association has rehabilitated 23 major sites on four waterways. These include the
Manitou River,
Blue Jay Creek, Norton's Creek and Bass Lake Creek. They have also had a class environmental assessment conducted of 184 waterways on Manitoulin Island and identified a top ten priority waterways that need to be rehabilitated. The Blue Jay Creek and Manitou River Enhancement Strategy was completed in June 2001 and approved in December 2003. As of 2010 they are starting work on the fifth waterway, the
Mindemoya River
The Mindemoya River is a river on Manitoulin Island in Ontario, Canada, which flows about from Lake Mindemoya to empty into Providence Bay on Lake Huron. There is a boardwalk and large sandy beach at the mouth of the river. "Mindemoya" comes from ...
. An enhancement strategy for the Mindemoya River was created and approved in 2009.
They installed the first frost free nose pump in Northern Ontario. The nose pump is a cattle watering system that uses a well instead of having the cattle drink from the nearby streams. In 2008 Manitoulin Streams was featured in the
Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) ''Ontario Out of Doors'' magazine when then Minister of Natural Resources The Honourable
Donna Cansfield
Donna H. Cansfield, (born ) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a Liberal member in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2003 to 2014 representing the riding of Etobicoke Centre.
Background
Cansfield was born in Alberta in ...
toured the Norton's Creek rehabilitation site while work was being completed.
Awards
* 2008 "Success Story of the Year" award at the Bi National State of The Lakes Ecosystem Conference (SOLEC). The SOLEC award was presented by the U.S. Consul General and Canadian Consul General.
* Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) 2009 Zone "D" Conservation Club of the Year Award.
* Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) Mary Pickford Trophy. Awarded on March 20, 2010 to Manitoulin Streams for their 2009 rehabilitation work. Named after the late actress the trophy is awarded to 1 of 660 OFAH member clubs that is judged to have achieved the most for conservation over the previous year.
References
{{Reflist
External links
Manitoulin Streams Improvement Association
Manitoulin Island
Environmental organizations based in Ontario