PERTH, APRIL 8, 2025 – Northern pike are successfully spawning at a constructed wetland embayment along Jebbs Creek, precisely the outcome Rideau Valley Conservation Authority staff were hoping for when they built the project in 2018.
Located within the RVCA-owned Perth Wildlife Reserve, the riverine wetland project created 1,600m2 of new spawning and nursery habitat for the creek’s 20 fish species. But northern pike was the primary focus, as they are particularly sensitive during spawning, with high egg mortality rates.
In a recently published six-year monitoring report, RVCA staff confirmed successful pike spawning and nursery activities, observing juvenile northern pike surviving and thriving in the new wetland.
“That was the goal,” said RVCA’s Aquatic Habitat Monitoring Coordinator, Amanda Lange. “It was for enhancement overall, but northern pike was our target species.”
Before construction, Lange said the area had become a monoculture with intermittent water flows.
“This reed canary grass monoculture would flood in the spring but then dry up in the summer,” Lange said. “So pike would spawn there, and then the fry would get trapped.”
Today’s water levels are more reliable – and the ripple effects have boosted the entire ecosystem.
“We’ve observed many other fish species as well as turtles, frogs and breeding birds. So biodiversity has improved dramatically, too,” Lange said. “That’s the highlight. We turned this monoculture area into an actual functional, diverse habitat.”
The project was a collaborative effort, with key partners including the Friends of the Tay River (FOTR), the Otty Lake Association (OLA) and the Ministry of Natural Resources.
Get Involved
New grant opportunities through the RVCA’s Rural Clean Water Program mean private landowners can now apply for technical and financial assistance to restore or construct wetlands on their rural and agricultural properties. Wetlands can act as effective stormwater storage and treatment plants, allowing harmful nutrients, chemicals and sediments to be filtered out before reaching the broader water system. Learn more at https://www.rvca.ca/stewardship-grants/rural-clean-water-grants.
To learn more about past wetland restoration projects in the Rideau Valley, visit https://www.rvca.ca/watershed-management/aquatic-conditions-ecology/wetland-restoration.
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