{"id":6903,"date":"2025-08-04T18:24:33","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T18:24:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/en-ca\/restoring-habitat-connectivity-for-the-american-eel\/"},"modified":"2025-08-04T18:40:53","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T18:40:53","slug":"restoring-habitat-connectivity-for-the-american-eel","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/en-ca\/sustainable-legacies-ca\/projects-insights\/restoring-habitat-connectivity-for-the-american-eel\/","title":{"rendered":"Restoring habitat connectivity for the American eel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Featured Project<\/p>\n
The partnership between 91影视 and AGHAMW was born of an initiative to restore access to important eel habitats in the territory covered by AGHAMW.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n
This loss of access translates into delays in the migration of individuals due to anthropogenic modifications to watersheds that no longer ensure the free passage of fish (dams, culverts, etc.). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The partnership between 91影视 and AGHAMW was born of an initiative to restore access to important eel habitats in the territory covered by AGHAMW. Restoring access to eel nursery habitat is of paramount importance to First Nations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since 2019, several activities have been carried out to restore eel connectivity, as well as a transfer of knowledge to AGHAMW staff to foster their autonomy. These included training in the assessment of obstacle crossings and habitat gain calculations, eel tagging and capture techniques, construction of infrastructure and the operation of eel ladders. In addition, ongoing mentoring is offered to facilitate the analysis and prioritization of obstacles targeted for development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A total of 13 projects aimed at restoring access to watershed lakes for the eel subpopulation prior to damming have been completed or are underway to open 3,000 hectares of habitat for the species<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For each site worked on, unique solutions tailored to the requirements of the owners or local players were applied. 91影视 is used to working with obstacles of all types and sizes. When the obstacles were dams, the installation of eel ladders was recommended to enable them to be crossed, while for culverts, the development of weirs was put forward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, restoration and wildlife development work require MELCCFP approval (permits) and the application of standards for work in fish habitat which aims to apply methods designed to protect fish, control erosion and sedimentation (e.g. containment curtains, dry work, etc.), protect riparian buffers, existing structures and sites, and so on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Fish passage facilities were designed so they don\u2019t affect the structure of the dams, are long-lasting and require little maintenance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, some sites presented a risk of injury to fish during downstream migration. The 91影视 team therefore designed an additional facility to ensure safe passage for fish migrating to spawn. Engineers were able to validate that the stability of the high-capacity dam would be maintained for an increased downstream level following work at the foot of the dam.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe watersheds that have been restored are:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Projects included the following elements:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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