The A2A Gananoque River Watershed Project is now in full swing, with 2 crews operating. The seining crew, which is made up of Pam Gerry and Mike McDonald, is planning to do 150 seines and already has completed dozens. They received training from Scott Smithers of the Ministry of Natural Resources, which donated his time to the project.

A seine is when the crew drags a 30 foot net through the water near the shoreline. Fish and other creatures are caught in the net, and forced back into the purse, the middle part of the net, as the net is gathered up. Then, after aquatic plants are sorted out, the young of the year fish and other small shoreline fish are placed in a tub of lake water. They are then identified by the crew and measured and immediately thrown back into the water to avoid harming them. Some of the common species of fish being found are pumpkin seeds, blue gills and rock bass.

Our crew has already found several Species at Risk-- several Grass Pickerel, Stinkpot and Map turtles. When fish Species at Risk are found, the crew weighs them, measures both their fork length and total length, they take scale samples and photograph them. The length of the upper and lower shells (plastrons and carapaces) of the turtles are measured and recorded. The type of vegetation both in the water and up on the shore is also recorded, so that we will have a better idea of what type of habitat Species at Risk need. A Global Positioning System (GPS) reading is made to determine where the seine was made.

Volunteers with the seining crew have been recording data, helping to position and count fish, learning and identifying fish and plant species, paddling the boat through weedy areas, working the GPS and camera on board, and seeing first hand the near shore biodiversity of the lake.

Meanwhile, the Shoreline Inventory crew, made up of Surbhi Jain and Murray Lyons, is making its way around the shoreline of Lower Beverley Lake, also using the GPS unit.Tom Beaubiah, a biologist with the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority, trained this crew, which is to go around the shoreline three times: on the first pass they are recording the type of structures that there are and the nature of the shoreline. On the second pass they will be looking at the type of vegetation that is on the land. Is it a manicured lawn? A pine forest? Junipers growing from rocks?

And on the third pass they will be identifying vegetation growing in the water.

Many residents in the Gananoque River Watershed have volunteered to go out with the crews. They can count on learning a great deal, whether it's identifying young fish or the plants that grow near or in the lake. Volunteers on the seining boat have been helping to operate the net, which is fairly heavy work. People with the Shoreline Inventory crew have been operating the GPS unit. The crews report that having an extra person helps them to operate more efficiently. Volunteers and stewardship are the key to this A2A project. A2A is so grateful to the many people who have signed up!

The Shoreline Inventory crew at work.

The Seining Crew removing aquatic plants before the species identification and count begins.