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I am making this example based on some Japanese I heard about a different subject, but the basic context is the same.

The context is that someone has lived in a fishing village for a long time. As a result, they have eaten many types of fish:

"数年も漁村に住んでて、いろんな魚種類を食べてるのだ。"

however, I would say it without "のだ":

"数年も漁村に住んでて、いろんな魚種類を食べてる。"

So, is it like a native speaker will not feel an implied causation between (1) my having lived in a fishing village for a long time, (2) I have eaten a lot of different types of fish unless I attach the "のだ"? (1) and (2) could be completely different thoughts in the same sentence?

What I mean by implied causation is as such:

Having lived in a fishing village for several years, I have been eating many types of fish.

Because of the implied causation, I don't need to say

Because I have been living in a fishing village for several years, I have been eating several different types of fish."

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    「いろんな魚種類」-> 「いろんな種類の魚」のほうがいいと思います。
    – chocolate ♦
    Commented Apr 6, 2016 at 5:30

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The indication of the the cause-effect relationship between (1) and (2) will be there with or without the のだ. Why? Because that implication comes from the particle "て" in "住んでて", and the "のだ" has nothing to do with it.

Here is the relevant definition of "て" from 広辞苑:

㋒ 原因・理由を示す。・・・から。・・・ので。(TL: Indicates cause or reason; ...から, ...ので)

Hence: "数年も漁村に住んでて、いろんな種類の魚を食べてる(のだ)。" ＝ "数年も漁村に住んでるから、いろんな種類の魚を食べてる(のだ)。"

I imagine your confusion comes from reading that sometimes のだ is used to give reason or to add an explanatory tone to a statement. This is true; however (therefore?), in the case of your example "数年も漁村に住んでて、いろんな種類の魚を食べてるのだ。", it is the sentence as a whole that serves as the reason/explanation of the prior statement (which was not included), since it attaches to the main clause "いろんな種類の魚を食べてる".

Let my slightly awkward example help illustrate this point:

「僕は魚の味には少しうるさいよ。 数年も漁村に住んでて、いろんな種類の魚を食べてるんだ。」(I'm a bit fussy when it comes to tasting fish; having lived in a fishing village for several years, I've eaten many types of fish.)

Here, the "んだ" points back to the previous sentence "僕は魚の味には少しうるさいよ", casting "数年も漁村に住んでて、いろんな種類の魚を食べてる" as the explanation for it. (I thought "んだ", contracted form of "のだ", was more in step with the casual tone of the speaker so I changed it.)

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のだ, its abbreviated form んだ, and the polite forms のです and んです, impart a kind of explanatory emphasis. There are other posts that go into this more:

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