A shoreline restoration project improved fish habitat by improving structural habitat and native vegetation.
Mimico Waterfront Park was a Waterfront Initiative that was executed in part with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. The main objective of the Mimico Waterfront Park project was to remove physical barriers to create a safe and accessible waterfront. The main features included a cantilevered boardwalk, a multi-purpose trail, a day-mooring facility, a partly sheltered embayment with a cattail fringe, and two new cobble beaches.
A fish habitat compensation plan aimed to build upon the existing sheltered embayment and transition to open coast habitats. The resulting shoreline design included restoration of the historic beach profiles, substrates, structural habitat and littoral zone vegetation where possible. In particular, the following were incorporated: Smallmouth Bass spawning shoals, lowland riparian habitat, stone shoals with sheltered backwater wetlands, nearshore woody debris, gravel beaches and a hemi-marsh.
The long-term monitoring of the site was completed in 2016, and through vegetation and fisheries surveys the habitat restoration was shown to be effective.
For more information on any of TRCA’s restoration projects, please visit https://trca.ca/conservation/restoration/