Nonquon River Fisheries Management Plan

The Nonquon River is 35 km in length, begins in the Oak Ridges Moraine and flows to the west of Port Perry, through the village of Seagrave, until it meets its final destination, Lake Scugog. The majority of the Nonquon River Watershed is located within Scugog Township. The river drains an area of approximately 187 square kilometres.
The Nonquon River Subwatershed Study, begun in 2002, established the need for a fisheries management plan. The purpose of this inventory and assessment is to gather baseline information on aquatic species, habitats, and communities, for the development of a long-term monitoring strategy for the Nonquon subwatershed. Prior to this investigation, a comprehensive inventory of aquatic communities did not exist.

Objectives

1. Describe the current abundance, distribution and condition of habitat for the aquatic resources within the Nonquon subwatershed
2. Develop a management plan for this fisheries resource
3. Present conclusions and recommendations with reference to policy and planning, fisheries management, and stewardship.

Methods

In total 70 sites were studied over the entire Nonquon subwatershed (Figure 1). Fishes were sampled using various methods. The Nonquon River Tributaries and Layton River were sampled using a backpack electrofisher following the Ontario Stream Assessment Protocol (OSAP), a standardized sampling method for wadable (water depths below the waist) watercourses. The main channel of the Nonquon River has areas that are too wide and deep to perform OSAP, and as such, sites along the main channel were sampled using hoop nets and bag seines.

Preliminary Results

From the 70 sites inventoried for the entire Nonquon subwatershed, 34 species of fish, representing 14 families, were identified. The most abundant families present within the watershed included minnows, followed by sunfishes and perches. Overall, the Nonquon Main Channel was the most specious, whereas more species were detected at a faster rate in the Layton River.

Future Directions

The public should be invited to submit their input on the need and requirements of the NRFMP. From this, the direction of the plan will be set; including developing improved goals, objectives, strategies and actions to be taken. A draft plan will be prepared, reviewed, finalized, implemented, and monitored.

Do you fish the Nonquon? If so, please download our fisheries survey (pdf) and mail or fax it back to us.