Cootes Paradise is a marsh in Hamilton, Ontario. It is the only waterway that connects Lake Ontario to surrounding waterways in Hamilton. Ecologists at Cootes Paradise use a fishway to help stop invasive species and track fish migration through the marsh.

Explore the following video to learn more about this ecosystem!

What is the Royal Botanical Gardens Fishway?

ACTIVITY: COOTES PARADISE OVER TIME

Let’s look at how the health of Cootes Paradise has changed since the fishway was built. Using the graph from historical fish migration data, take a few minutes to explore the difference in invasive versus native fish that migrate into the marsh.

What do you notice about:

  • the number of invasive fish and native fish over time?
  • the total number of fish that are graphed?