Improving effectiveness of fish habitat restoration actions in Great Lakes coastal embayments: an integrated study of annual fish spatial ecology and limnology in Toronto Harbour

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Many of the coastal embayments in the Laurentian Great Lakes are listed as areas of concern (AOC) and have expensive remedial action plans in place that aim to restore beneficial uses, such as sustainable fisheries. Our research will determine how key fish species respond to habitat restoration projects, to help ensure the effectiveness of these remediation efforts. While basic habit requirements of key fish species are broadly known, it is not known how fish communities respond to specific restoration. In addition, winter habitat selection remains poorly studied and is usually neglected in restoration efforts. Another difficultly in successfully designing warm water habitat is that the temperature regime is strongly controlled by exchange flows between the bays and lakes that potentially render warm water habitats unsuitable during critical periods.