BUI #1 - Restrictions on fish and wildlife consumption

Although fish consumption is currently impaired. Fish in the Bay of Quinte are healthy, abundant, and safe to eat. Wildlife consumption was never identified as impaired. 

Specific consumption levels can be found in the Guide to Eating Ontario Fish published by the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.

Today, the Bay of Quinte supports a world-class walleye and bass fishery providing this region with numerous economic benefits.

Man in boat holding fish on the Bay of Quinte

Each BUI has specific criteria that must be met before its status can be changed to unimpaired.

Target – The BUI is to be redesignated when it can be demonstrated that consumption advisories for fishes of interest in the Bay of Quinte are non-restrictive, declining or comparable to the advisories for suitable Lake Ontario reference site(s) due to contaminants (PCBs, dioxin-like PCBs, TCDDs (dioxins) and TCDFs (furans)) from locally-controllable sources specific to the AOC.  

 Measure 1. Fish consumption advisories for fishes of interest in the Bay of Quinte are non-restrictive, declining or are comparable to suitable reference area(s); and

Measure 2. Fish consumption advisories for Brown Bullhead and Yellow Perch (or similar sentinel species) collected in the areas of the Trenton Nearshore Area and the Belleville Nearshore Area, near legacy sources of contamination, are non-restrictive, declining or comparable to advisories for these fish in the rest of the Bay of Quinte.

Tracking Walleye with Acoustic Transmitters

The Queen’s University Freshwater Fisheries Conservation Lab has been working with the Lake Ontario Management Unit (MNRF) to tag Walleye with acoustic transmitter to track their movement in the Bay of Quinte and Lake Ontario. Click on the image below to see the 2018 movement of walleye.

Image from the Tufts Lab Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/fisheriesqu