Cootes Paradise Fishway Traditional Cache

I placed this cache to bring you to the Fishway at the Desjardins Canal. It's been here since 1997 and its purpose is to keep non-native Carp and goldfish out of Cootes Paradide. More below. Cache is available 24/7 but check the picture I posted (or the website) for times when you can watch the fish sorting up close and personal. Kids (small and large!) tend to LOVE it! Cache is a creative container and only had room for a log. 

Enjoy the 10-15 min hike from the parking lot, and please return the cache exactly the way you found it

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Located at the mouth of the Desjardins Canal—the only channel that connects Cootes Paradise and Hamilton Harbour—the Fishway is the Great Lakes' first two-way fishway and carp barrier, and is one of the most visible indicators of the progress of Project Paradise.

The Fishway began operating in 1997. It is designed to keep non-native carp out of Cootes while maintaining the flow of water and populations of native aquatic species.

Before the installation of the Fishway, Cootes Paradise had an estimated carp population of about 70,000 adults. During the Fishway's first year of operation, 95% of carp were excluded from the marsh, and since then this number has continued to drop, with monitoring in recent years consistently finding less than 1,000 adult carp in the marsh.

Eliminating carp from Cootes Paradise is considered a vital first step in the marsh restoration process.