Eastern Sand Darter (Ammocrypta pellucida), 2012 to 2017: progress report of recovery strategy 2018

Official title: Report on the Progress of Recovery Strategy Implementation for the Eastern Sand Darter (Ammocrypta pellucida) in Canada (Ontario Populations) for the Period 2012 to 2017

This report provides an update on the work done for the Eastern Sand Darter (Ontario population) from 2012 to 2017.

Species at Risk Act
Recovery strategy report series

Preface

The federal, provincial, and territorial government signatories under the Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk (1996) agreed to establish complementary legislation and programs that provide for effective protection of species at risk throughout Canada. Under Section 46 of the Species at Risk Act (S.C. 2002, c.29) (SARA), the competent ministers are responsible for reporting on the implementation of the recovery strategy for a species at risk, and on the progress towards meeting its objectives within five years of the date when the recovery strategy was placed on the Species at Risk Public Registry and in every subsequent five-year period, until its objectives have been achieved or the species’ recovery is no longer feasible.

Reporting on the progress of recovery strategy implementation requires reporting on the collective efforts of the competent minister(s), provincial and territorial governments and all other parties involved in conducting activities that contribute to the species’ recovery. Recovery strategies identify broad strategies and approaches that will provide the best chance of recovering species at risk. Some of the identified strategies and approaches are sequential to the progress or completion of others and not all may be undertaken or show significant progress during the time frame of a Report on the Progress of Recovery Strategy Implementation (Progress Report).

The Minister of Fisheries and Oceans is the competent minister(s) under SARA for the Eastern Sand Darter and has prepared this Progress Report.

As stated in the preamble to SARA, success in the recovery of species at risk depends on the commitment and cooperation of many different constituencies that will be involved in implementing the directions set out in the recovery strategy and will not be achieved by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, or any other jurisdiction alone. The cost of conserving species at risk is shared among multiple constituencies. All Canadians are invited to join in supporting and implementing the Recovery Strategy for the Eastern Sand Darter for the benefit of the species and Canadian society as a whole.

Acknowledgments

This Progress Report was prepared by Josh Stacey (DFO) and Amy Boyko (DFO). To the extent possible, this Progress Report has been prepared with inputs from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and Environment and Climate Change Canada. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans would also like to express its appreciations to all individuals and organizations who have contributed to the recovery of the Eastern Sand Darter.

Executive summary

The Eastern Sand Darter was listed as Threatened under the Species at Risk Act in 2003. In 2009, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada split the species into two designable units, consisting of Quebec and Ontario populations. The Recovery Strategy for the Eastern Sand Darter (Ammocrypta pellucida) in Canada: Ontario Populations was finalized and published on the Species at Risk Public Registry in 2012.

The main threats identified for Eastern Sand Darter (Ontario Populations) (hereafter referred to as Eastern Sand Darter) include: sediment loading, nutrient loading, pollution resulting from agricultural and urban development, barriers to movement, and alterations in flow regimes and hydrological coastal processes. Invasive species, such as the Round Goby and Common Reed, may also be negatively impacting Eastern Sand Darter.

The population and distribution objective for Eastern Sand Darter is to ensure the survival of self-sustaining population(s) at the six extant locations (Sydenham River, Thames River, Lake St. Clair, Big Creek, Grand River, Lake Erie [Long Point Bay]) and restore self-sustaining population(s) at the following locations: Ausable River, Lake Erie (Rondeau Bay and Pelee Island), Catfish Creek, and Big Otter Creek, where feasible.

Since the publication of the Recovery Strategy in 2012, two major detections of Eastern Sand Darter have been made that are significant to the recovery of the species in Ontario, specifically the Detroit River as well as West Lake (Prince Edward County), which represents the first detection of Eastern Sand Darter within the Lake Ontario watershed. Outreach activities conducted by Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry directly or through the Habitat Stewardship Program and Species at Risk Stewardship Fund, respectively, have generated awareness of Eastern Sand Darter, the species’ critical habitat and the threats that jeopardize that habitat. These activities have included media broadcasts, presentations, and stewardship training. Similarly, habitat improvement and restoration activities such as vegetation planting, riparian stabilization and the removal of invasive vegetation have been conducted within watersheds occupied by Eastern Sand Darter. Taken together, these activities represent progress towards implementing species recovery actions.

1 Introduction

This Progress Report outlines the progress towards meeting the objectives listed in the Recovery Strategy for the Eastern Sand Darter (Ammocrypta pellucida) (Ontario Populations) (hereafter referred to as Eastern Sand Darter) from 2012^{Footnote 1} to 2017 and should be considered as one in a series of documents for this species that are linked and should be considered together; including, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) Status Report (COSEWIC 2009) (PDF), the Recovery Potential Assessment (Fisheries and Oceans Canada [DFO] 2011) (PDF), and the Recovery Strategy (DFO 2012) (PDF).

Section 2 of the progress report reproduces or summarizes key information on the threats to the species, population and distribution objectives for achieving its recovery, approaches to meeting the objectives, and performance indicators to measure the progress of recovery. For more details, readers should refer back to the Recovery Strategy for the Eastern Sand Darter (Ammocrypta pellucida) in Canada: Ontario Populations (DFO 2012). Section 3 reports the progress of activities identified in the Recovery Strategy that support achieving the population and distribution objectives. Section 4 summarizes the progress made and the outcome of the recovery effort.

2 Background

2.1 Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada assessment summary

The listing of Eastern Sand Darter in 2003, which led to the Recovery Strategyin 2012, was based on the information provided in the COSEWIC Status Report (COSEWIC 2000). In 2009, COSEWIC reassessed the species’ status and confirmed it as Threatened (COSEWIC 2009); however, Canadian Eastern Sand Darter populations were split into two designatable units (DUs), one for Ontario populations and one for Quebec populations. This information has also been included in Section 1.1 of the Recovery Strategy.

Common name: Eastern Sand Darter – Ontario Populations

Scientific name: Ammocrypta pellucida (Girard 1856)

Status: Threatened

Reason for Designation: This species prefers sand bottom areas of lakes and streams in which it burrows. There is continuing decline in the already small and fragmented populations; four (of 11) have probably been extirpated.  The extent of occurrence of this species in Ontario is approximately half of what it was in the 1970s as a result of habitat loss and degradation from increasing urban and agricultural development, stream channelization and competition with invasive alien species.

Occurrence: Ontario

Status history: The species was considered a single unit and designated Threatened in April 1994 and November 2000. When the species was split into separate units in November 2009, the "Ontario populations" unit was designated Threatened.

2.2 Distribution

Since 2010, Eastern Sand Darter has been detected in two new locations, the Detroit River and West Lake (Prince Edward County) (Figures 1 and 2). Additionally, the species has been detected at multiple locations throughout its current distribution since the publication of the Recovery Strategy (e.g., Grand, Sydenham and Thames rivers, Lake St. Clair). For further information on targeted and non-targeted surveys for Eastern Sand Darter as of 2010, refer to Table 4.

2.3 Threats

This section summarizes the threats to survival and recovery of Eastern Sand Darter and threats to its critical habitat, based on the Recovery Strategy.

2.2.1 Threats to Eastern Sand Darter

Table 1, adapted from Bouvier and Mandrak (2010), summarizes the population-level threats to Eastern Sand Darter. Please refer to Section 1.5.2 of the Recovery Strategy for more information on these threats.

2.3.1 Threats to critical habitat

Critical habitat for Eastern Sand Darter has been identified, to the extent possible, in Section 2.7 of the Recovery Strategy. Table 2 provides examples of activities that are likely to result in the destruction of critical habitat (i.e., threats to critical habitat). The list of activities provided in this table is neither exhaustive nor exclusive, and their inclusion has been guided by the relevant threats to habitat described in the Recovery Strategy. For more details on the activities likely to result in the destruction of critical habitat, consult the Recovery Strategy.

^a Further information that was not presented in the Recovery Strategy has been added to this table

2.4 Recovery

This section summarizes the information on the population and distribution objectives that are necessary for the recovery of Eastern Sand Darter, and on performance indicators that provide a way to define and measure progress toward achieving the population and distribution objectives found in the Recovery Strategy.

2.4.1 Recovery goal and population and Distribution Objectives

Sections 2.2 to 2.4 of the Recovery Strategy identified the recovery goal, population and distribution objectives, and short-term recovery objectives necessary for the recovery of the species.

Recovery goal

The long-term goal (>20 years) is to maintain self-sustaining, extant populations and to restore self-sustaining populations to formerly occupied habitats where feasible.

Population and distribution objectives

The population and distribution objective for Eastern Sand Darter is to ensure the survival of self-sustaining population(s) at the six extant locations (Sydenham River, Thames River, Lake St. Clair, Big Creek, Grand River, Lake Erie [Long Point Bay]) and restore self-sustaining population(s) at the following locations: Ausable River, Lake Erie (Rondeau Bay and Pelee Island), Catfish Creek, and Big Otter Creek, where feasible.

Short-term recovery objectives (5 to 10 years)

In support of the long-term goal, the following short-term recovery objectives will be addressed over the next 5 to 10 years:

1. Refine population and distribution objectives
2. Ensure the protection of critical habitat
3. Determine long-term population and habitat trends
4. Evaluate and minimize threats to the species and its habitat
5. Investigate the feasibility of population supplementation or repatriation for populations that may be extirpated or reduced
6. Enhance efficiency of recovery efforts through coordination with aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem recovery teams and other relevant or complementary groups/initiatives
7. Improve overall awareness of the Eastern Sand Darter and the role of healthy aquatic ecosystems, and their importance to humans

2.4.2 Performance indicators

^b The Recovery Strategy followed an older template that measured performance based on recovery objectives and not population and distribution objectives.

However, some indicators may not be measurable within the time frame covered in this Progress Report. In such cases, the implementation of the recovery approaches and critical habitat studies will help report on the progress toward achievement of the performance indicators.

3 Progress towards recovery

The Recovery Strategy for Eastern Sand Darter divides recovery effort into three broad categories: 1) Research and Monitoring; 2) Management and Habitat Protection; and, 3) Stewardship, Outreach and Education. Within these categories, 17 broad strategies are identified; progress in carrying out these broad strategies is reported in Section 3.1. Section 3.2 reports on the activities identified in the Schedule of Studies to identify critical habitat. Section 3.3 reports on the progress on meeting the performance indicator and other commitments (e.g., action plan and Critical Habitat Order) identified in the Recovery Strategy and information obtained through implementing the Recovery Strategy Activities supporting recovery.

3.1 Activities supporting recovery

Tables 4 to 6 provide information on the implementation of activities undertaken to address the approaches and broad strategies identified in the Recovery Planning Table of the Recovery Strategy.

^c Acronyms listed in Appendix 1.

3.2 Activities supporting the identification of critical habitat

Table 7 provides information on the implementation of the studies outlined in the Schedule of Studies to Identify Critical Habitat in the Recovery Strategy.  

Each study has been assigned one of four statuses:

1. Completed: the study has been carried out and concluded
2. In progress: the planned activity is underway and has not concluded
3. Not started: the activity has been planned but has yet to start
4. Cancelled: the planned activity will not be started or completed

^d Acronyms listed in Appendix 1

3.3 Summary of progress towards recovery

3.3.1 Status of Performance Indicators

Table 8 provides a summary of the progress made toward meeting the performance indicators outlined in Table 4.

Each indicator has been assigned one of four statuses:

1. Not met: The performance indicator has not been met, and little to no progress has been made
2. Not met, underway: The performance indicator has not been met, but there has been moderate to significant progress made
3. Met: The performance indicator has been met and no further action is required
4. Met, ongoing: The performance indicator has been met, but efforts will continue until such time the population is considered to be recovered (i.e., the indicator will be reported against in the next five-year progress report)

3.3.2 Completion of action plan

The Action Plan for the Sydenham River in Canada:An Ecosystem Approach (DFO 2017) was posted as Proposed on the Species at Risk Public Registry on August 25, 2016. Although an ecosystem/multispecies document, this Action Plan includes several components that encompass recovery objectives for Eastern Sand Darter. Additionally, an Action Plan for the Ausable River, which includes Eastern Sand Darter, has been drafted and is expected to be posted on the Public Registry in 2018.

3.3.3 Critical habitat identification and protection

Under SARA, critical habitat must be legally protected from destruction within 180 days of being identified in a recovery strategy or action plan. For Eastern Sand Darter, critical habitat was identified in the Recovery Strategy in the Sydenham and Thames rivers. Critical habitat identified in the Long Point NWA was legally protected by a Description in 2016. In 2017, a Critical Habitat Order made under subsections 58(4) and (5) of SARA was published in the Canada Gazette Part 2. The Description and Order are intended to satisfy the obligation to legally protect critical habitat by triggering the prohibition in subsection 58(1) of SARA against the destruction of any part of the species’ critical habitat. Since the publication of the Recovery Strategy, research has been conducted that has potentially refined the functions, features, and attributes of critical habitat by confirming the importance of substrate size (preference for sand and fine gravels) and by documenting an association with water clarity as well as stream reaches with limited cover. These findings should be considered during the species’ next assessment and incorporated into the functions, features, and attributes table of future recovery strategies, amendments to existing strategies and or action plans for this species.

3.3.4 Recovery feasibility

Information available at this time suggests that the feasibility of recovery for Eastern Sand Darter has not changed since the publication of the Recovery Strategy.

4 Concluding statement

Since the publication of the Recovery Strategy in 2012, two major detections of Eastern Sand Darter have been made that significantly refine future population and distribution objectives for this species. For the first time, Eastern Sand Darter has been detected in the Detroit River (Figure 1), which indicates there is likely connectivity between Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie populations. Furthermore, sampling conducted within West Lake, Prince Edward County by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (OMNRF) has led to the first detection of Eastern Sand Darter within the Lake Ontario watershed (Figure 2). Ultimately, the detection of Eastern Sand Darter within West Lake gives indication that its distribution is more widespread within Ontario than previously understood; therefore, further sampling should be undertaken to detect other potentially undiscovered populations within the Lake Ontario basin and the Upper St. Lawrence River.

In general, targeted sampling surveys for Eastern Sand Darter have been limited. Only one targeted survey, representing one location (Sydenham River), has been completed to determine whether species numbers have increased or continue to decline. The relative abundance index in the Eastern Sand Darter Recovery Strategy consists primarily of expert opinion, with only one population on the Thames River having quantitative estimates of relative abundance and population trajectory. For this reason, targeted sampling is required to generate robust quantitative estimates of Eastern Sand Darter population sizes in order to set meaningful population and distribution objectives. Furthermore, monitoring is also needed within the Lake Ontario watershed to detect new populations, as well as within historical locations (e.g., Big Otter Creek) and new locations (e.g., Nanticoke Creek) in coastal areas and tributaries of Lake Erie.

There is currently not enough information available to determine if the conditions within habitats occupied by Eastern Sand Darter have changed since the publication of the Recovery Strategy. As with the aforementioned relative abundance index, the threat status information in the Eastern Sand Darter Recovery Strategy is based solely off of expert opinion and not quantitative analysis. Research objectives centred on threat assessment and mitigation have not been implemented in the last five years; therefore, it is imperative that this form of research should become a focus of future recovery efforts.

Information pertaining specifically to Eastern Sand Darter, as well as more general information that applies to this species through threat information and recommendations for Best Management Practices (BMPs), have been presented or distributed to the general public through Habitat Stewardship Program (HSP) funding. Specifically, 46 000 people have been reached through media broadcasts, 209 801 media items have been printed and 1169 individuals have received stewardship training. Similarly, a number of habitat improvement activities have been conducted throughout areas of the current and historical range of the Eastern Sand Darter. In total, 523 ha of vegetation planting (terrestrial species within riparian zones and catchment areas) has occurred, 44 ha of invasive vegetation has been removed, 69 ha of riparian zone has been restored, along with a number of other general habitat improvement activities.

Overall, progress has been made in terms of stewardship and outreach activities that benefit the Eastern Sand Darter; however, there are still a number of areas where further information is required to fulfill measure prescribed in the Recovery Strategy. Further recovery implementation for the Eastern Sand Darter should focus on pending survey and monitoring, and research measure to fill knowledge gaps. 

5 References

• Barnucz, J., N.E. Mandrak, L.D. Bouvier, R. Gaspardy, and D.A. Price. 2015. Impacts of dredging on fish species at risk in Lake St. Clair, Ontario. Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat Research Document: 2015/018.
• COSEWIC. 2009. COSEWIC assessment and status report on the Eastern Sand Darter Ammocrypta pellucida, Ontario populations and Quebec populations, in Canada (PDF). Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. vii + 49 pp.
• Dextrase, A.J., N.E. Mandrak, J. Barnucz, L.D. Bouvier, R. Gaspardy, and S.M. Reid. 2014a. Sampling effort required to detect fishes at risk in Ontario. Canadian Manuscript Report of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 3024.
• Dextrase, A.J., N.E. Mandrak, and J.A. Schaefer. 2014b. Modelling occupancy of an imperilled stream fish at multiple scales while accounting for imperfect detection: implications for conservation. Freshwater Biology 59: 1799-1815.
• DFO. 2011. Recovery Potential Assessment of Eastern Sand Darter (Ammocrypta pellucida) in Canada. DFO Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat Science Advisory Report 2011/020.
• DFO. 2012. Recovery strategy for the Eastern Sand Darter (Ammocrypta pellucida) in Canada: Ontario populations. Species at Risk Act Recovery Strategy Series, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Ottawa. vii + 56 pp.
• Drake, D.A.R., M. Power, M.A. Koops, S.E. Doka, and N.E. Mandrak. 2008. Environmental factors affecting growth of Eastern Sand Darter (Ammocrypta pellucida). Canadian Journal of Zoology 86: 714-722.
• Drake, D.A.R. and N.E. Mandrak. 2014(a). Bycatch, bait, anglers, and roads: quantifying vector activity and propagule introduction risk across lake ecosystems. The Ecological Society of America 24: 877-894.
• Drake, D.A.R. and N.E. Mandrak. 2014(b). Ecological risk of live bait fisheries: a new angle on selective fishing. American Fisheries Society 39: 201-211.
• Finch, M., J.E. Faber, M.A. Koops, S.E. Doka, and M. Power. 2013. Biological traits of Eastern Sand Darter (Ammocrypta pellucida) in the Lower Thames River, Canada, with comparisons to a more southern population. Ecology of Freshwater Fish 2: 234-245.
• Ginson, R., R.P. Walter, N.E. Mandrak, C.L. Beneteau, and D.D. Heath. 2015. Hierarchal analysis of genetic structure in the habitat-specialist Eastern Sand Darter (Ammocrypta pellucida). Ecology and Evolution 5: 695-708.
• Reid, S. and A. Dextrase. 2014. First record of Ammocrypta pellucida (Agassiz, 1863) (Actinopterygii: Perciformes) from the Lake Ontario Drainage Basin. Check List 10: 1201-1203.
• Reid, S. and M. Parna. 2015. 2013-2014 Eastern Sand Darter research report. Aquatic Research Monitoring Section, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, Peterborough Ontario. March 2015 (Unpublished).
• Reid, S. and V. Kopf. 2016. Report on 2015 fish sampling activities for Species at Risk Act permit. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (Unpublished).

Appendix 1: acronyms

ABCA: Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority
BMP: Best Management Practices
CCCA: Catfish Creek Conservation Authority
COSEWIC: Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada
CWS: Canadian Wildlife Service
DFO: Fisheries and Oceans Canada
EERT: Essex-Erie Recovery Team
ERCA: Essex Region Conservation Authority
GRCA: Grand River Conservation Authority
HSP: Habitat Stewardship Program
ISC: Invasive Species Centre
LPRCA: Long Point Region Conservation Authority
LTVCA: Lower Thames Valley Conservation Area
NPRCA: Niagara Region Conservation Authority
OFA: Ontario Federation of Agriculture
OFAH: Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters
OFNEDA: Ontario First Nations Economic Development Association
OLTA: Ontario Land Trust Alliance
OMAFRA: Ontario Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Rural Affairs
OMNRF: Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry
OU: Ohio University
QRCA: Quinte Region Conservation Authority
SARSF: Species at Risk Stewardship Fund
SCRCA: St. Clair Region Conservation Authority
TU: Trent University
UTRCA: Upper Thames River Conservation Authority
UG: University of Guelph
UT: University of Toronto
UW: University of Windsor