We want to know what you think about the recommendation by the Detroit River Canadian Cleanup to change the status of the Restrictions on Fish and Wildlife Consumption beneficial use impairment (BUI #1) be changed from ‘impaired’ to ‘not impaired’ for fish.
Your input is valuable to us and is much appreciated.
The technical reports on which these recommendations are based and the fact sheet associated with these reports can be found below. This report will provide you with all information required to provide comments on the proposed re-designations.
Restrictions on Fish and Wildlife Consumption (BUI #1)
The restrictions on Fish and Wildlife Consumption beneficial use for the Detroit River is designated as impaired for fish. The main driver of this impairment is chemical contamination in the waters and sediment of the Detroit River. Researchers from the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research (GLIER) at the University of Windsor have completed assessing this beneficial use. They evaluated fish consumption advisories using the established delisting criteria for this BUI:
“When consumption advisories for indicator fish species (e.g. walleye, brown bullhead, smallmouth bass and largemouth bass) given for the sensitive population in the AOC are similar to upstream and downstream non-AOC Great Lakes reference areas due to contaminants from locally-controllable sources”.
To evaluate this beneficial use, a four-tier hierarchical framework was used. At each tier, an unimpaired or impaired status is possible based on each assessment.
- Tier 1 assesses the presence of fish consumption restrictions within the AOC and whether they exceed a benchmark level of allowable meals per month.
- Tier 2 compares the degree of restrictiveness of fish consumption advisories in the AOC to multiple reference sites.
- Tier 3 compiles multiple lines of evidence to address whether past mitigation actions in the AOC have contributed to the improvement of fish consumption advisories over time.
- Tier 4 was added to provide an additional line of evidence that can be used to understand contaminant recovery in the AOC over time and address whether there is a need for additional, local restoration actions that can lead to further reductions in fish consumption advisories in the AOC.
The framework was applied to the four indicator species and based on the research findings of this study, there is no evidence to deem the status of the Restrictions on Fish and Wildlife Consumption BUI#1 as impaired, and a “not impaired” status is being recommended by the Detroit River Canadian Cleanup.
Technical Resources and Factsheet
Technical report: Assessment of Beneficial Use Impairment (BUI) #1: Fish and Consumption Advisories in the Detroit River.
Factsheet: DRCC Fish Consumption Re-Designation Factsheet.
Accompanying Fish Consumption Survey report and resources.
Public Open House Information
Join us on Thursday, March 26th, 2026 from 6:30pm to 9:00pm as we host an open house to share research relating to the Restrictions on Fish and Wildlife Consumption and share your comments with DRCC staff and research scientists. For more information and how to register, please click here.
We are committed to accessibility. If you need this content in a different format or require support, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Submit your comments today
Submit your comments in the form below. All comments received will be reviewed and addressed by the Detroit River Area of Concern Remedial Action Plan members. All comments will be included in a summary report (which will be created after the deadline passes) to inform stakeholders about the public’s opinions towards the proposed status change of the BUIs. The deadline to submit comments is April 30th, 2026.
We expect the comment form to take no longer than 5 minutes to complete. If you have any questions or concerns please contact the DRCC’s RAP Coordinator, Madison Dugdale, dugdale@detroitriver.ca, (519) 982-2210
