INFORMATION  FOR  THE  FEBRUARY  8,  2017   THUNDER  BAY  REMEDIAL  ACTION  PLAN     PUBLIC  ADVISORY  COMMITTEE  MEETING     CENTERING  ON  DEGRADED  HARBOUR  FISH  AND  WILDLIFE  HABITAT     Information  included  below  is  contained  within  the  2012  Thunder  Bay  Remedial   Action  Plan  Update.  This  information  could  be  useful  in  developing  next  steps  to   achieve  improved  fish  and  wildlife  habitat  in  Thunder  Bay  Harbour.   Loss  of  Fish  Habitat   Action  for  February  8th  meeting:   1.  Report  on  the  following  work,  which  was  laid  out  in  the  2012  RAP     Update:   Planned  for  2012   Proponent:  Environment  Canada  with  support  from  Ministry  of  Natural  Resources  (Upper  Great  Lakes  Management   Unit)     Important  information  on  fish  habitat  quality  and  quantity  can  be  determined  by  identifying  and  mapping  the  lakebed   characteristics.  Assessment  of  the  availability  and  health  of  fish  habitat  in  the  AOC  will  indicate  the  success  of  previous   habitat  restoration  projects  in  restoring  this  beneficial  use.  This  project  will  provide  information  about  the  extent  and   quality  of  fish  habitat  in  the  form  of  a  ground  truthed  dataset  developed  by  EC  and  a  summary  report  reviewed  by  the   MNR.  Milestones  for  this  project  include:                        a)  Completion  of  monitoring  fieldwork  for  the  assessment  of  the  substrate,   which  will  include  examining  components  of  cobble  and  gravel  areas  for   sediment  and/or  organic  material                        b)  Classification  and  assessment  of  lake  bottom  (submerged)  substrates  to   determine  the  amount  of  fish  habitat  for  each  life  stage                  c)  Creation  of  substrate  and  bathymetry  maps  that  show  fish  habitat   classification  and  availability             2.  The  following  conclusions,  also  laid  out  in  the  2012  RAP  update,  are   noteworthy:   Action  (SM-­‐FWH-­‐2):  Northern  Wood  Preservers  Alternative  Remediation  Concept  (NOWPARC)  Fish  Community   Comparison   Status:  Completed  Monitoring  Initiative  (2005-­‐2006)   Proponent:  Ministry  of  Natural  Resources  (Upper  Great  Lakes  Management  Unit)  and  Department  of  Fisheries  and   Oceans     In  2004  and  2006,  the  MNR  conducted  a  study  to  assess  and  compare  the  fish  community  around  the  Northern  Wood   Preservers  (NWP)  Inc.  property  with  contemporary  fish  communities  at  four  other  sites  within  the  Thunder  Bay   Harbour,  as  well  as  with  pre-­‐remediation  (1986)  data  from  around  the  NWP  property  (Parker  et  al.  2008).  Sampling   sites  included  two  additional  remediation  locations:  the  mouth  of  McVicar  Creek,  and  the  McKellar  River  embayment.   Fish  communities  were  sampled  using  a  combination  of  boat  and  backpack  electrofishing,  seine  netting,  and  minnow   trapping.  Sampling  techniques  varied  drastically  in  their  effectiveness  with  boat  electrofishing  and  seine  netting   capturing  the  greatest  number  of  fish  and  species.   a)  In  comparison  to  other  contemporary  sites  within  the  Thunder  Bay   Harbour,  the  NWP  area  had  moderate  to  high  values  of  fish  diversity  and  low   to  moderate  fish  abundance.     b)  The  contemporary  relative  abundance  of  fish  at  NWP  was  well  within  the   range  reported  for  18  sites  that  were  sampled  prior  to  Remedial  Actions   (1986).     c)  The  McKellar  River  embayment  remediation  project  in  particular  shows   notably  high  relative  abundance  values  when  compared  to  both  contemporary   and  historical  data.     d)  These  results  suggest  that  suitability  of  fish  habitat  around  the  restored   areas  of  NWP  is  similar  to  that  of  other  sites  within  the  Thunder  Bay  Harbour.     e)  Given  that  Remedial  Actions  were  not  concluded  until  2003,  any  responses   by  the  fish  community  around  the  NWP  property  are  likely  ongoing  and  will   require  further  sampling.     Loss  of  Wildlife  Habitat   1.  The  following  information,  also  laid  out  in  the  2012  RAP  update,  sets  out  that   there  has  been  an  increase  in  greenspace  (potential  wildlife  habitat)  around   Thunder  Bay  harbour.   Action  (SM-­‐FWH-­‐3):  Wildlife  Habitat  Change  Detection   Status::  Completed  Assessment  Initiative     Proponent:  Lakehead  University  (RAP  Office)   Cost:  $10,000     Change  detection  habitat  analysis  was  completed  by  Lakehead  University  within  the  watersheds  surrounding  the   Thunder  Bay  Area  of  Concern.  The  study  utilized  Environment  Canada’s  document  How  Much  Habitat  is  Enough?   (Environment  Canada  2004)  to  assess  the  status  of  current  and  historical  wildlife  habitat.  The  analysis  was  performed   using  remotely  sensed  data  (i.e.  satellite  imagery  and  aerial  photography)  covering  five  time  periods:  1976,  1988,  2000,   2006,  and  2010.  The  analysis  was  divided  into  four  case  studies:  the  Thunder  Bay  Area  of  Concern  (using  Landsat   satellite  imagery),  McKellar/Mission  Island,  Thunder  Bay  Harbourfront,  and  Tributary  Riparian  Zones  (using  aerial   photography).     Spatial  temporal  analysis  of  each  case  study  identified  significant  change  related  to  wildlife  habitat  locations  over  the   34-­‐year  study  period.  The  analysis  has  identified  that  the  Thunder  Bay  AOC  has  become  “greener”  since  1976,   suggesting  increased  locations  of  wildlife  habitat.  The  McKellar/Mission  Island,  Harbourfront,  and  Riparian  Zones  case   studies  introduced  significantly  greater  resolution  imagery  that  provided  a  greater  means  for  identifying  locations   associated  wildlife  habitat.  Comparative  analysis  between  the  results  from  the  Landsat-­‐based  change  detection  and  the   aerial  photography-­‐based  change  detection  identified  similar  wildlife  habitat  locations,  suggesting  coarse  level  change   detection  can  provide  an  accurate  assessment  of  wildlife  habitat  change  within  an  urban  environment.     Although  study  results  show  that,  in  many  respects,  the  Thunder  Bay  AOC  is  meeting  Environment  Canada’s  wildlife   habitat  guidelines,  it  should  be  noted  that  habitat  parameters  as  recommended  in  these  guidelines  are  largely  based  on   a  single  species  from  southern  Ontario.  While  songbird  species  may  represent  wildlife  habitat  location  in  southern   Ontario,  the  same  cannot  be  considered  accurate  in  all  environments,  specifically  in  Northwestern  Ontario  (Boyle  and   McDonald  1999,  Cooper  and  Millspaugh  1999,  Hebblewhite  and  Merrill  2008,  Johnson  et  al.  2004,  McDonald  and   McDonald  2002).   Ecological  literature  suggests  the  use  of  multiple  species  to  understand  and  evaluate  wildlife  habitat.  The  parameters   from  How  Much  Habitat  is  Enough?  are  difficult  to  apply  to  the  Thunder  Bay  Area  of  Concern  and  further  consultation  is   required  to  develop  more  suitable  locally  based  targets.     The  following  habitat  assessment  in  Thunder  Bay  harbour     (SM-­‐CLW-­‐1)  was  carried  out.  A  presentation  on  the  work  completed   and  conclusions  drawn  was  provided  to  the  PAC  by  Greg  Grabas  of   Environment  Canada  on  May  6th,  2015.  A  link  to  the  Greg  Grabas   presentation  is  provided  in  the  post  for  the  February  8th,  2017   Thunder  Bay  PAC  meeting.  The  presentation  is  entitled,   “Determining  wildlife  population  and  habitat  status  in  the  Thunder   Bay  Area  of  Concern.”   Action  (SM-­‐CLW-­‐1):  Wildlife  Habitat  Assessment   Status:  Planned  for  2012  to  2014   Proponent:  Environment  Canada     Environment  Canada  (EC)  is  working  on  the  following  for  a  2012-­‐2014  assessment  of  wildlife  habitat  in  Thunder  Bay   AOC.  EC  wildlife  habitat  scientists  will  choose  a  representative  subset  of  sites  within  and  near  to  the  AOC  for   assessment.  The  objective  of  the  study  is  to  assess  baseline  wildlife  habitat  condition  and  determine  how  breeding   migratory  or  marsh  bird  and  amphibian  communities  compare  among  sites  inside  and  outside  the  AOC  boundary.