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The Toronto Waterfront Aquatic Habitat Restoration Strategy builds on key strategic directions and plans for Lake Ontario and the Toronto Waterfront.
Fish community objectives for Lake Ontario prepared by New York State and the Province of Ontario recognize the importance of nearshore fish communities and the aquatic environment upon which they depend9. The objectives state that the nearshore fish community "will be composed of a diversity of self-sustaining native fishes" including walleye, yellow perch, smallmouth and largemouth bass, sunfish, and eels. The objectives encourage the expansion of the populations of these species into favourable habitats. It is also implicit that repairing nearshore environments would provide needed habitat for young forms of off-shore and deep water species, thus contributing to the objective for pelagic fish communities like lake trout, whitefish and their prey species of both fish and invertebrates. In this regard, the Toronto Waterfront Aquatic Habitat Restoration Strategy is meeting the requirement of sustaining existing populations of these species, and proposing places and methods to create more "favourable" habitats to assist in the expansion of ranges closer to former boundaries that existed before the mid-1800s.
Operation Doorstep Angling was prepared by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources in 197610. It examined the fishery resource of the watersheds and waterfront within the jurisdiction of the Metro Toronto and Region Conservation Authority with a view towards improving and promoting angling.
In 1993, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources published a more detailed document for Metro Toronto Waterfront Aquatic Habitat Rehabilitation11 under the auspices of the Metro Toronto Remedial Action Plan. The document identifies habitat goals, objectives and targets focusing on protection, enhancement and restoration. It also provides rehabilitation strategies, assessment criteria, monitoring activities, rehabilitation measures and site-specific recommendations for action. The Plan provided the basis for the habitat classification of open coast and sheltered areas that is being used today. Many of the recommendations of the Plan have been implemented and are reflected in the summary of shoreline regeneration projects in the section on Cultural Influences.
The Policy for the Management of Fish Habitat administered by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans provides important direction for the Strategy12. Its overall policy objective is to achieve net gain of habitat for Canada's fisheries resources with specific goals for conservation, restoration and development of fish habitat.
In addition, the Toronto Waterfront Aquatic Habitat Restoration Strategy is being undertaken in parallel with a number of current, complementary initiatives and will be coordinated with them wherever possible.
For example, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority is developing a comprehensive Natural Heritage Program throughout its jurisdiction13. This program has identified restoration areas and significant habitats in the bioregion. Within this framework, two integrated strategies are being developed for aquatic and terrestrial habitats on the Toronto Waterfront.
The Toronto Bay Initiative is a community group dedicated to promoting a clean, green, connected and accessible Toronto Bay. In 1998 the group published A Living Place: opportunities for habitat regeneration in Toronto Bay14 and has been working with the City of Toronto and TRCA to implement a number of habitat projects, including the Spadina Quay Wetland, the Peter Street Slip, and the Toronto Island Sand Dune Restoration project.
The City of Toronto recently developed a Wet Weather Flow Management Master Plan to improve water and sediment quality throughout the watersheds and waterfront15. Implementation of this plan will be an important contribution to the Remedial Action Plan process to clean up the Toronto and Region Area of Concern mentioned earlier. It will also result in improved environmental conditions that are necessary for healthy aquatic habitats.
As noted above, the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation is responsible for implementation of waterfront improvements in the Central waterfront, as well as selected projects at Port Union (Scarborough) and Mimico (Etobicoke)16. The City of Toronto is implementing a new parks plan for the Harbourfront area. All these projects provide opportunities to contribute to aquatic habitat restoration.
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