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Trout Unlimited Canada’s Stop the Spread campaign focuses on preventing the spread and impact of invasive species and pathogens that threaten Canada’s fisheries.  There are a number of invasive species threatening Canada’s water. Meet the Spiny Water Flea. The Spiny Water Flea was first introduced to North American waters from the ballast tanks from merchant ships traveling into our waters from Europe and Asia. Identification Spiny Water Flea is currently found in the Great Lakes.  Ranging in size from approximately 8 to 12 mm including the tail, these fresh-water crustaceans are native to northern Europe and Asia. The head of the spiny water flea consists primarily of a large black eye that is well defined from its abdomen, which has four pairs of legs. Its tail is barbed (with 1 to 3 pairs of barbs) and is twice as long as its body.  The barbed tail acts as an effective deterrent to small fish trying to feed on them. Asexually produced fleas have a kink in the middle of their spine whereas sexually produced fleas do not. Impact of Spiny Water Flea to Our Environment The Spiny Water Flea is capable of asexual production, resulting in population explosions. Sexual production increases their genetic variability and their ability to survive and disperse under adverse environmental conditions and a wide range of water temperatures. Sexually produced eggs can go into a semi-static dormant metabolic condition and can over-winter and hatch when temperatures exceed 4oC. In addition, dormant eggs can survive passage through fish digestive tracts. Why Should We Care? Spiny water fleas disrupt the biodiversity of lakes they invade by out competing and consuming large numbers of the native zooplankton,creating an imbalance that ripples throughout the entire food chain. Although capable of  sexual reproduction, most spiny water fleas reproduce asexually.  A single female alone can quickly colonize new habitat pushing out and negatively impacting native species. Spiny water fleas reduce the available food for our native fish and they are mostly non-digestible or palatable to larger fish. Large numbers of spiny water fleas gather together forming a jelly mass that clogs fishing gear and other equipment. How Can You Stop the Spread? There are four primary ways you can stop the spread of Spiny Water Flea Boating and fishing equipment should be cleaned with hot (140 C) high-pressure water and allowed to dry for at least five days prior to transporting to another waterbody, but longer periods are recommended. If you are using bait, bait buckets should always be emptied on land, far from water bodies. Talk and inform others about the dangers of Spiny Water Flea and other aquatic invasives. Support Trout Unlimited Canada’s Stop the Spread program.

Water Edu-Kits a Big Success-All of the 200 Ontario-bound Water Edu-kits are gone! TUC sent letters out to let schools and community groups know about this amazing new education program during the last week of August, and it took only six weeks for teachers and leaders to send in their requests and order them all. The kits were sent to school boards, schools, conservation authorities, municipalities, and environmental organizations across Ontario with the exception of the Greater Toronto Area. Kits will be used by science, biology and outdoor education teachers, city and conservation authorities, environmental education coordinators, as well as Girl Guide, Pathfinder, Beaver and Scout community group leaders. The kits were designed for Grade 7-10, but also link to the Ontario science curriculum for Grade 11 and 12. They include water testing supplies, teachers manual and student field sheets, basically, all tools needed for a self-directed study of water quality, the issues of water pollution and stewardship opportunities in Ontario. We promoted this opportunity through our website, and on social media, and word spread quickly. The program will now be used and tested in 50 different cities across the province. We anxiously look forward to feedback about the kits through our evaluation sheets and an online survey. In this way, we can understand the programs impact, strengths, and weaknesses, and improve the program as needed. Ultimately we want to ensure success, as we hope to launch it in other provinces as well as provide a bilingual version. Thank you to the Ontario Trillium Foundation for sponsoring this great opportunity for Ontario educators and leaders to learn about water and how to protect it. Here is some of the initial feedback we received: “We are excited to use them soon, and can’t wait to pass along feedback from students and teachers alike on the program.”… “I received the Water kit today – it looks great and in a handy bag, too!” “Thank you very much for the attached material, we are thrilled to have material for secondary aged students, it will definitely allow us to expand our education scope in our watershed!’ “We’ll definitely put it to good use. I’ll let you know how it is utilized and any ideas we come up with for other resources that could be developed.” “We are excited! One of the kits will be going to our aboriginal school that is located in an urban setting in the hopes that this will provide a means to get the students out and learning in a natural setting. Will let you know how it works out.” “We received the package today. It looks phenomenal and we cannot wait to use it with the girls! We started last week by talking about our local watershed and potential sources of impact.” “We are making efforts to encourage our Pathfinder girls to engage in scientific inquiry about the natural world. As an MSc student working with water quality… I would love to be able to engage our girls with the watershed. Unfortunately up to this point, we’ve lacked the resources to do so.”

TUC Branches Out With Canon Canada-Trout Unlimited Canada recently partnered with Canon Canada Inc. (Canon) for their annual “Branch Out” Program. Four events were held in western Canada in with help from Canon staff. Canon helped with a Fish Rescue in Calgary on October 3 and three Yellow Fish Road projects that took place between October 4 and 6 in Edmonton, Victoria, and Vancouver. Since 1991, Canon has had a formalized commitment to environmental conservation by creating the Clean Earth Campaign. This campaign guides all of Canon’s workplace conservation and recycling activities. In addition to its own initiatives, Canon partners with organizations that represent the best thinking and programming to improve our natural surroundings – that’s where Trout Unlimited Canada comes in. The Yellow Fish Road storm drain painting projects were both great fun and highly successful. They provided a volunteer activity for a great team of enthusiastic employees wanting a philanthropic experience that is ‘making a difference.’ In fact, the Edmonton group was so hard-working that we ran out of the informative door hangers. The events earned the groups lots of positive praise and encouragement for what they were doing. More importantly, they helped educate the people in the communities they were that ‘Rain Only’ should go down the storm drain to our rivers. Their work helped to protect their local waters and fisheries and they accomplished a lot. Here are their results: Edmonton: 15 people distributed , 200 door hangers and painted 54 storm drains Victoria: 10 people distributed 200 door hangers and painted 37 storm drains Vancouver: 27 people distributed 500 door hangers and painted 119 storm drains Total= 900 door hangers distributed and 210 storm drains painted! At the Fish Rescue, Canon staff helped rescue 2,611 fish from a draining irrigation canal. The Fish Rescue is a great opportunity for participants to learn about the fish in our river systems and some of the issues facing our fisheries. To inquire about event sponsorship opportunities with Trout Unlimited Canada please  contact us .

Let’s Talk Fish Habitat-The Federal government has established a Standing Committee of MP’s to review the Fisheries Act and provide recommendations to the government on any changes, modifications or adjustments to the Act and new policies since 2012. A website has been created by DFO to solicit thoughts, comments and concerns on a set of topics related to this review. We are urging people to take this opportunity to provide the Standing Committee with your concerns over the protection of fish and fish habitat in Canada. TUC staff are also preparing a brief to the Standing Committee to identify our positions on the existing legislation and policies as well. Please review the Let’s Talk Fish Habitat website and to enter your input.

Alberta Water Council Releases Two Reports-Alberta Water Council Recommendations to Improve Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Management in Alberta. Trout Unlimited Canada is pleased to have been a part of two projects recently completed by the Alberta Water Council. Aquatic Invasive Species TUC biologist, Lesley Peterson was a member of the project team which developed the report Recommendations to Improve Aquatic Invasive Species Management in Alberta. Alberta has five aquatic invasive species (AIS) but some of the most harmful AIS (zebra and quagga mussels, Asian carp and Eurasian watermilfoil) have not yet been established here. This allows for a proactive management approach with a strong focus on prevention. AIS pose a significant threat to water management facilities, water supply infrastructure, aquatic ecosystems, recreation, and human health. The report focusses on five areas that are essential to good AIS management: prevention, public awareness, communication and collaboration; long-term management; monitoring; inspections; and enforcement. Recommendations to Improve AIS Management in Alberta Water Literacy Director of Education, Lynn Robb participated in the development of the report Recommendations to Improve Water Literacy in Alberta, which explores five areas for improving water literacy: increased collaboration among water literacy practitioners, provision of tools and knowledge to assess program success and effectiveness; alignment of topics, audiences, delivery areas and methods; stronger capacity among practitioners; and assessment of water literacy among Albertans. Water literacy forms the foundation for successful education and outreach, by cultivating a stewardship and compliance ethic and enabling informed public input to decision-making processes. Both projects were undertaken in parallel with work by the Government of Alberta (GoA) and include specific recommendations and timelines. Recommendations to Improve Water Literacy in Alberta The Alberta Water Council is a multi-stakeholder partnership that stewards the implementation of Alberta’s Water for Life strategy and provides advice on water management issues to its members, which include the GoA and provincial authorities, industries, municipalities and NGOs.

Reconnecting Canada – The Million Mile Effort. Reconnecting Canada – Trout Unlimited Canada (TUC) has been known for decades for its efforts in fisheries protection, stream rehabilitation and partnership in management efforts across the country. TUC is pleased to announce its first national stream rehabilitation campaign. This campaign will join TUC staff, volunteers, members and partners across the country to achieve a common goal – reconnect Canada’s waters Across the country rivers, streams and creeks are severed by many different types of crossings, many of which have culverts. A culvert is a structure placed under a road that allows water to pass under the road, utility or trail. Culverts are commonly made from concrete or metal and come in various shapes and sizes. Unfortunately, many culverts have significant negative impacts to Canada’s precious rivers and streams. Culverts can stop or hamper fish and other animal passage, cause erosion and most importantly reduce the quality of water upstream and downstream. Why is this important? Rivers and Streams provide vital services to animals, people and our environment. Clean, healthy water improves our recreational areas by reducing the ability of viruses and bacteria like E. coli to survive. These healthy waters also improve and create new habitats for a variety of animals, improving the value and quality of our parks and wild areas. Healthy trees and plants need clean water to grow, improving air quality and reducing air temperatures during hot spells. Healthy rives provide cleaner water for communities that use rivers and lake for drinking water, irrigation and industry. Clean water is cheaper to treat, and better for our communities. Trout Unlimited Canada is committing to making these changes happen in Canadian communities, it’s time to reconnect our waterways! By replacing or fixing culverts that are causing erosion, degrading water quality, hampering fish movement and threatening our roads and utilities we will make our communities healthier and stronger.

Trout Unlimited Canada is once again the proud recipient of a Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) Blue Water Project™ Leadership Grant for $150,000 in support of its ongoing Drywood Creek Flagship Conservation Project located in S.W. Alberta, near the town of Pincher Creek. This award was presented to Trout Unlimited Canada on Thursday June 21, 2012 during the Drywood/Yarrow Conservation Partnership Watershed Tour. Drywood Creek is one of Trout Unlimited Canada’s five Flagship Conservation projects across Canada.  In 2008, TUC was invited to partner with the Drywood/Yarrow Conservation Partnership (DYCP) on biological and educational programs throughout the watershed.  Since 2008, TUC has held electro-fishing workdays and educational field days in the Drywood Creek Watershed, involving local school groups and landowners and their families.  TUC has also worked closely with ranchers and other partners to install riparian fencing and off-stream stock watering systems.  These practices allow producers to control the timing and intensity of livestock grazing, allowing sensitive riparian areas to rest and recover at critical times. The RBC Blue Water Project™ is a 10-year, $50 million grant program to support projects dedicated to water conservation, watershed protection, access to clean drinking water, and other fresh water-related issues in Canada and around the world. Since 2007, RBC has pledged over $27 million to more than 350 not-for-profit organizations worldwide that protect watersheds or ensure access to clean drinking water. Lesley Peterson, Project Biologist with Trout Unlimited Canada states, “RBC Blue Water funding has allowed us to continue to work closely with current and future generations of land stewards throughout the Drywood Creek watershed.  These partnerships have enabled us to drive positive change on the ground, benefiting downstream water users and the local fish populations. We are truly grateful for the support provided by the RBC Blue Water Project™ towards this important project.” RBC Regional Vice President, Mark Brown went on to say “At RBC, we see the important work Trout Unlimited Canada is doing with their Drywood Creek Flagship Conservation Project in Southern Alberta. From dynamic educational programming being provided to school groups, land owners and area residents to the idea of creating thoughtful environmental stewards, the Drywood Creek Flagship Conservation Project shows a longstanding commitment to environmental sustainability. We are thrilled to be working alongside TUC as they work to protect some of Alberta’s most precious riparian zones.” Jeff Surtees, CEO for Trout Unlimited Canada added, “RBC and the RBC Blue Water Fund have been generous partners for TUC, providing support for our Artist of the Year program, our Nile Creek Flagship Project on Vancouver Island, work on the Kettle River in British Columbia and for this work on the Drywood Creek watershed in Alberta. We are also very grateful to Gordon Ritchie, Vice Chairman of RBC Capital Markets who chaired our very successful 2012 Calgary spring fundraising dinner which raised over one million dollars for cold water conservation. “ For more information regarding the Drywood Creek Flagship Conservation Project, please contact Lesley Peterson, Project Biologist, Trout Unlimited Canada, at 403-209-5184 or via email . About RBC and the RBC Blue Water Project™ The RBC Blue Water Project™ is an innovative, wide-ranging, 10-year global commitment to help protect the world’s most precious natural resource: fresh water. It includes a $50 million philanthropic commitment to organizations that protect watersheds and ensure access to clean drinking water. The RBC Blue Water Project™ also promotes responsible water use through awareness programs and supports programs that encourage businesses to develop and commercialize innovative solutions to the water issues facing the world.  For more information, visit the RBC Blue Water Project™ website . Royal Bank of Canada (RY on TSX and NYSE) and its subsidiaries operate under the master brand name RBC. The RBC is Canada’s largest bank, and among the largest banks in the world, based on market capitalization. They are one of North America’s leading diversified financial services companies, and provide personal and commercial banking, wealth management services, insurance, corporate and investment banking and transaction processing services on a global basis. They employ approximately 74,000 full- and part-time employees who serve close to 15 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada, the U.S. and 55 other countries. For more information, please visit the RBC website . About Trout Unlimited Canada Trout Unlimited Canada’s mission is to conserve, protect and restore Canada’s freshwater ecosystems and their coldwater resources for current and future generations. TUC has been restoring rivers and streams in Canada for over 35 years. For more information about the Drywood Creek Restoration Project-including project updates and TUC’s Flagship Conservation Projects please click here .

Trout Unlimited Canada has teamed up with Parks Canada and the University of Calgary to restore a population of native westslope cutthroat trout in the Hidden Lake and Corral Creek drainages near the Lake Louise Ski Area in Banff National Park. This multi-year project involves partnerships, research along with volunteer signage and education components. The Alberta population of westslope cutthroat trout, which are listed as a Threatened species by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), currently occupies approximately 10% of its historical range. A recovery strategy has been drafted by a team of experts that addresses issues facing the species and provides recommendations and steps that could be used to recover the species. This plan is specific to only pure populations within historic native range. Westslope cutthroat trout have faced multiple threats including habitat loss and degradation, competition and hybridization with non-native, introduced species and over-harvest. Only limited populations of pure westslope cutthroat trout remain within their historic range in the province, most often to reaches of rivers above natural barriers such as waterfalls. Introgression with introduced rainbow trout and competition for food and habitat with brook trout has also limited westslope cutthroat trout range and numbers. Brook trout, native to eastern North America, were introduced in water bodies throughout western Canada in the early1900’s in an attempt to bolster angling opportunities. Brook trout mature at a younger age and smaller size and do not live as long or grow as big as native westlope cutthroat or bull trout. Brook Trout were likely introduced into Hidden Lake and upper Corral Creek sometime in the 1960’s and have since eliminated native westslope cutthroat trout from a reach above an impassable waterfall on Corral Creek. Since the introduction of brook trout into this watershed, the natural balance between trout species has been altered. Trout Unlimited Canada, Parks Canada and the University of Calgary have come together to restore the natural balance in this system.

By By Todd Dupuis-Regional Operations Director, Atlantic Salmon Federation Federal Minister of Fisheries, the Honourable Keith Ashfield (right), presented Daryl Guignion (left) from the Prince Edward Island chapter with a 2011 National Recreational Fisheries Award for his tireless commitment to conservation and restoration of the recreational fisheries of PEI. Daryl Guignion joined Trout Unlimited Canada (TUC) because of his belief and support in TUC’s conservation goals and vision. In addition to his role with the Prince Edward Island chapter Daryl has lent his support and scientific expertise to other chapters including Prince County. Daryl also helped organize and found the Morelle Fisheries Management Coop, a group recognized for its watershed management, habitat restoration and trout and salmon enhancement. Wildlife biologist, researcher, and teacher Daryl Guignion has spent a lifetime working with educators, policy-makers, and community organizations to encourage greater respect and protection for the natural environment. Daryl has devoted much of his own time for four decades to bettering the recreational fishery on Prince Edward Island. He has lobbied over many years for effective legislation and environmental practices to conserve waterways for trout and salmon. Believing that one of the best ways to increase awareness and encourage change is through education, Guignion has made literally hundreds of presentations to school and community groups about major threats to fragile ecosystems. As an associate professor in the UPEI Biology department, he has inspired his students to view their environment through a sensitive lens that strengthens their understanding of how they are affected by the natural world, and how they are totally dependent on it. He has trained many teachers who, in turn educated their students about conservation and preservation of the environment. He was a founding member of the Island Nature Trust. His work to establish the only legislated Conservation Zone in Prince Edward Island along the Morell River is a highlight among the many projects to which he has contributed. By combining his scientific research background, his interest in recreational fish management, his educational capabilities and his ability to see projects through, Mr. Guignion has contributed vastly to the conservation of the natural environment in Prince Edward Island

Trout Unlimited Canada is pleased to announcement the launch of the Duffins Creek Renewal Program with the support of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. The launch took place at the Greenwood Discovery Pavilion in Ajax on April 24, 2012. Enbridge Gas Distribution is teaming up with Trout Unlimited Canada to help restore the Duffins Creek watershed. Running from the Oak Ridges Moraine and passing through Ajax, Pickering, Markham, Whitchurch-Stouffville and Uxbridge, Duffins Creek is deteriorating due to increased urban pressure, land use practices and climate change. Enbridge Gas Distribution will support Trout Unlimited Canada’s efforts to restore the watershed through environmental stewardship, habitat remediation and environmental education. For more information regarding this important announcement please click here to read the complete media release.

TUC receives a Federal Recreational Fisheries Award for its contributions to the Grand River watershed conservation and management

Exciting news! Trout Unlimited Canada’s Duffins Creek Watershed Renewal Program has received a Walmart Evergreen Green Grant of $8K. This grant will fund workday and outreach events. Through streamside tree planting workdays and public outreach events such as Duffins Creek Family Fun Day, Trout Unlimited Canada will foster pride, appreciation and enjoyment of Duffins Creek. Tree planting workdays will take place in Fall 2012. Many thanks to the generosity of Walmart Evergreen Green Grants! Trout Unlimited Canada’s Duffins Creek Watershed Renewal Program in partnership with Toronto and Region Conservation with founding sponsoring Enbridge Gas Distribution aims to protect the Duffins Creek headwaters and to improve water quality while engaging local residents in restoring the aquatic ecosystem of this significant river. By working together, we are ensuring a healthy future for Duffins Creek and ourselves. More information about the program can be found through our Duffins Creek Blog.