A team of students from the University of Waterloo is working on a project to prevent further expansion of pike into the Kawartha lakes.
Project Manager Andrew Swinoga says his team’s project titled, Preventing Invasive Northern Pike Expansion in the Kawartha Lakes, was inspired by a story he first read in Ontario Out of Doors and personal experience. Swinoga, who grew up muskie fishing in the Kawarthas, was struck by the number of pike that he was encountering in places where they never were before, and the detrimental effect on the once-prodigious muskie fishery.
His team of four fourth-year environmental engineering students have received a research grant from Muskies Canada and are partnering with Parks Canada, Kawartha Conservation, and local Indigenous communities to design an engineering solution that limits northern pike passage through the Trent-Severn Waterway’s lock systems, while maintaining boat navigation and ecosystem balance. He also credits biologists from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Carleton University for sharing their expertise.
His team is currently turning their engineering skills towards creating a system that creates a counter-current in the locks that is great enough to deter pike, but not so strong as to deter boat traffic. He notes that pike can swim at 1.5 metres per second, so the plan is to create a small zone in a lock where they would encounter an opposing current faster than 1.5 metres per second.
The team is in process of creating a small prototype to assess its feasibility. Swinoga said it will be completed by spring, and should their solution be deemed feasible, Muskies Canada will take it forward. Swinoga hopes the project will also serve to engage conversation about the issue.
The initial test site will be in Lock 32 in Bobcaygeon, which will deter Sturgeon Lake pike from entering the tri-lake area of Pigeon, Chemong, and Buckhorn.
Originally published in the Jan.-Dec. 2026 issue of Ontario Out of Doors
