Prepared by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. Adoption of the Recovery Strategy for the Eastern Sand Darter (Ammocrypta pellucida) in Canada (Parks Canada Agency 2011).

The Endangered Species Act, 2007 (ESA) requires the Minister of Natural Resources to ensure recovery strategies are prepared for all species listed as endangered or threatened on the Species at Risk in Ontario (SARO) List. Under the ESA, a recovery strategy may incorporate all or part of an existing plan that relates to the species.

The Eastern Sand Darter (Ammocrypta pellucida) is listed as Endangered on the SARO List. The species is also listed as Endangered under the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA). Fisheries and Oceans Canada prepared the Recovery Strategy for the Eastern Sand Darter in Canada in October 2012 to meet their requirements under the SARA. This recovery strategy is hereby adopted under the ESA. With the additions indicated below, the enclosed strategy meets all of the content requirements outlined in the ESA.

Section 2.7 of the federal recovery strategy provides an identification of critical habitat (as defined under the SARA). Identification of critical habitat is not a component of a recovery strategy prepared under the ESA. However, it is recommended that the approach used to identify critical habitat in Section 2.7 be considered when developing a habitat regulation under the ESA.

Executive summary

Prepared by Fisheries and Oceans Canada

The Eastern Sand Darter is a small benthic and translucent fish whose North American range is discontinuous and composed of two disjunct areas. One element occurs in the Great Lakes and Ohio River drainage, while the other occurs in Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence River. In Ontario, it has been recently collected in Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair, the Grand, Sydenham and Thames rivers, and Big Creek.

There are limited data available on the Eastern Sand Darter throughout its Canadian range. Nevertheless, the data that are available suggest that Eastern Sand Darter populations are declining throughout their entire range. In Canada, total numbers have been declining since 1950. The silting of sandy habitats represents the main cause for the decline in abundance and range of Eastern Sand Darter. Threats to Canadian populations include: sediment loading, nutrient loading, and pollution resulting from agricultural and urban development. Barriers to movement (e.g., dams and impoundments) and alterations in flow regimes and coastal processes negatively affect the Eastern Sand Darter. Invasive species, such as the Round Goby, may also be negatively impacting the species.

This recovery strategy defines the goal, objectives and recommended approaches considered necessary for the protection and recovery of the Eastern Sand Darter in Ontario.

The long-term goal (> 20 years) of this recovery strategy is to maintain self-sustaining, extant populations and to restore self-sustaining populations to formerly occupied habitats where feasible. In some locations, permanent changes in the fish community, as a result of the establishment of exotic species, may impact the feasibility of re-establishing Eastern Sand Darter populations.

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 - 10 years)

In support of the long-term goal, the following short-term recovery objectives will be addressed over the next 5 -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; and,
  7. Improve overall awareness of the Eastern Sand Darter and the role of healthy aquatic ecosystems, and their importance to humans.

Using best available information, the area in which critical habitat is found has been identified to the extent possible for extant Eastern Sand Darter locations in the Sydenham River, Thames River, Grand River, Big Creek (Norfolk County), and Lake Erie (Long Point Bay). A schedule of studies has been developed that outlines necessary steps to obtain the information to refine these critical habitat descriptions.

Some measures have already been implemented for the recovery of the Eastern Sand Darter in Ontario. Several Eastern Sand Darter surveys have been conducted from 1997 to 2010 in historically and/or currently occupied waterbodies. Also, five ecosystem or multi-species recovery strategies that include Eastern Sand Darter recovery have been initiated in Ontario.