is ultimately used to assess the likelihood that authorization under the Fisheries Act will be required.
2.0 Collection of Background Information
Background information for Broadway Drain and Healy Drain has been assembled from a number of sources that are discussed in the following paragraphs. Field investigations for fisheries were conducted by LGL and others from 2006 to 2009 as part of the overall Detroit River International Crossing Environmental Assessment Project.
The Natural Heritage Impact Assessment Recommended Plan report, December 2008 indicates that detailed fisheries investigations were conducted on all watercourses/waterbodies located within the study Area of Investigation (AOI) to determine the presence/absence of fish habitat and the characteristics of the fish community present.
LGL investigated all waterbodies within the study area to determine the presence or absence of fish and fish habitat and the characteristics of the fish communities present.
A total of 21 species of fish were found to inhabit streams located in the study area, excluding the Detroit River. The majority of local watercourses were identified as being dominated by warmwater sport and bait fish communities, although some coolwater species are also found.
The Natural Heritage Impact Assessment Recommended Plan report states that LGL conducted field investigations on: May 3-5, 2006; September 18-21, 2006; and, October 5, 2006. The habitat survey at the time was carried out following the MTO Environmental Manual - Fisheries (MTO 1994), the Draft Environmental Reference for Highway Design (MTO 2002) and the MTO/MNR Fisheries Protocol (1993).
As part of LGL’s 2006 field investigations, five locations were sampled on Healy Drain (Fish Sampling Stations 4, 5, 6, 8, and 12) and three locations were sampled on Broadway Drain (Fish Sampling Stations 7, 9 and 11) as outline in Table 1 below. LGL surveyed fish communities by visual observation or by fish collections using a backpack electrofishing unit, dips net or minnow trap and physical features were surveyed in sufficient detail to enable mapping and identification of key habitat types.