‘They just don't get as much attention’: UWindsor researchers to study decline in freshwater fish species

A team of researchers at the University of Windsor is looking to understand the decline in some endangered aquatic species and for ways to stop it.

With an $850,000 grant from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ Canada, a local team will spend the next four years learning about habitat needs and threats, restoring vital ecosystems, and pioneer captive breeding methods to save at risk species.

A great example of fish being studied is the Redside dace, one of Canada’s most critically endangered species of fish.

“Someone might say, ‘Why do we care about that?’” said Trevor Pitcher, the director of The University of Windsor’s the Freshwater Restoration Ecology Centre. “And the answer is that ecosystem is really interconnected. So when you start losing some of the species such as Redside dace in the Toronto area, that is sort of a sign that there's problems downstream.”

Pitcher said it’s kind of like the canary in the coal mine.

“The species at risk sometimes are a good indication that you know, five or 10 years down the road, many other species are going to be in trouble as well,” said Pitcher.

Catherine Febria, a freshwater ecology researcher at the university said human factors are a big part of the four-year study.

“Anyone that does love water and life underwater, we know that the things that we do on land is ultimately influencing and connecting and impacting their habitat and survival underwater and downstream,” Febria said.

The team will look at the impacts of the run-off of pesticides and fertilizer into our fresh water as well as the addition of road salts to freshwater supply.

“Even applying things like road salts, it might seem very innocent, but in certain places and at certain times of the year, we're introducing a lot of salt into our waterways, and that is influencing the invertebrates and the fish that live in these streams,” Febria said.

The team of researchers will also look at invertebrates like mussels and translocation of the native species.

Pitcher said this work of studying conservation methods both before and after the efforts hasn’t been done before because much attention gets focused on oceans, not lakes.

He calls the problem currently facing lakes the invisible collapse.

“The reality is, is that there's actually a much higher loss of species in the freshwater ecosystems than the marine ones,” Pitcher said. “They just don't get as much attention.”

Febria said everything in the water and land is connected, no matter how big or small the endangered species they are studying.

“We've seen this play out in a lot of different ways in the Great Lakes and around the world, that if you lose one species or one function, it might all go downhill and we might do irreversible damage and I think that's what we're trying to prevent,” she said.

Conservation efforts already underway will now get a critical eye to ensure the industry, economy, people, and aquatic life that rely on healthy waterways can keep doing so.

“The task is, we've done a lot of work to try and save them,” said Febria. “And the question that we want to ask in the next four years is whether or not it works.”