NEWS  What is happening in our community.

Six Nova Scotia projects receive ASCF funding for 2009

Six groups working to conserve wild Atlantic salmon stocks in Nova Scotia will receive a total of $52,800 in funding from the Atlantic Salmon Conservation Foundation (ASCF) this year. Details on each of the projects are as follows:

The Nova Scotia Salmon Association, Beaver Bank: $15,000
To restore the West River, which has been extensively damaged by acid rain

Nova Scotia has suffered more than any other region of North America in terms of the percentage of fish habitat lost from the effects of acid rain. Acid rain has negatively impacted the wild Atlantic salmon populations in at least 50 of the 65 salmon rivers that drain into the province's Atlantic coast.

The Nova Scotia Salmon Association has initiated an ambitious project to restore one of the rivers damaged by acid rain. The West River was selected as the site for the demonstration project, which basically entails year-round liming of the river in areas that once provided habitat for wild Atlantic salmon. The treated habitat offers the potential to produce an anticipated 10,000 wild smolt per year and is sufficiently large to provide a natural refugee for a wild salmon population.

Contact: George Ferguson, President, NSSA
Phone: 902-864-2238
E-mail: nssa@ns.sympatico.ca

The LaHave River Salmon Association, Bridgewater: $9,000
To improve and maintain the water quality of the LaHave River

They go, but they don't come back.

Since the late 1980s the annual number of wild Atlantic salmon returning to the LaHave river has continued to decline. At Morgan Falls, where DFO counts both upward migration of adult salmon and downward migration of smolt, a healthy population of smolt are going out to the ocean, but every year fewer adult salmon are returning.

What's happening, and what could be done to mitigate the problem? After much consultation, the LeHave River Salmon Association (LRSA) decided that the best course of action was to try to maintain the quality of the watershed as high as possible. The Association will use its ASCF funding to continue a water quality monitoring program initiated in 2009 and to further a public education program aimed at raising awareness of the fragility and importance of watersheds and aquatic life, promoting improved and sustainable farming and forestry practices and developing a comprehensive network of partners and collaborators.

Contact: Carroll Randall, LRSA
Phone: 902-543-3372
E-mail: dacara@eastlink.ca

The Sackville Rivers Association: $9,000
For a comprehensive watershed study to establish priorities for Atlantic Salmon habitat restoration and improvement in the watershed

It's time. The Sackville Rivers Association (SRA) needs a watershed management plan to guide its central environmental policy. To develop the plan, the SRA will use its ASCF funding to finance the creation of a comprehensive watershed study that will establish priorities for Atlantic Salmon habitat restoration and improvement in the watershed.

"Much of the work the SRA has undertaken in the past 20 years has been carried out on a project by project basis, without a lot of oversight with regard to an overall plan. Our watershed management plan, as a comprehensive document for the SRA and the watershed, will help the SRA move forward with an all-encompassing plan through which we can co-ordinate all of our projects.

"The creation of the Sackville River Watershed management plan will be a major landmark for the SRA itself, and also for the conservation of wild Atlantic salmon into the future."

The SRA will be hiring a science student to help develop the preliminary watershed study.

Contact: Steve Caines, SRA Coordinator
Phone: 902-865-9238
E-mail: sackvillerivers@ns.sympatico.ca

The St. Mary's River Association, Sherbrooke: $7,500
To identify culverts that interrupt spawning migration and develop a restoration plan for remediation

Poorly placed or non-maintained culverts can interrupt wild Atlantic salmon spawning migrations, restrict access to ideal habitat and food sources, and increase the chance of predation. Previous work in other parts of Nova Scotia indicate frequently 50-60% of existing culverts are barriers to fish migration.

The St. Mary's River Association will use its ASCF funding to assess this problem by: evaluating and quantifying culverts as barriers to passage for upstream migratory Atlantic salmon in tributaries of the St. Mary's River; evaluating and quantifying culverts as barriers to passage for upstream migratory Atlantic salmon in tributaries of the river; evaluating the extent and quality of habitat lost due to impassable culverts; prioritizing culverts for restoration; and developing a restoration plan for culvert remediation.

Contact: Sean C. Mitchell, PhD, Executive Director
Phone: 902-522-2099
E-mail: smitchel@stfx.ca

Habitat Unlimited, Antigonish: $6,300
To continue its work on fish habitat restoration in Wright's River

Restoration work on tributaries of the Wright's River near Antigonish was begun just two years ago. More needs to be done, though, so Habitat Unlimited will use the funds it has received from ASCF to address problems in Hartshorn Brook, which was the site of a major commercial development, Brierly Brook and a tributary of the north arm of the Wright's River in Pleasant Valley, which were and continue to be forested. These tributaries have been ranked as high priority for restoration because of their potential for fish habitat, their current state of degradation (sedimentation problems and lack the natural cycle of pools and riffles), and the achievability of the work to be done. Habitat Unlimited plans to restore these tributaries by installing additional structures such as digger logs, deflectors, bank logs, and brush mats.

Contact: Kris Hunter, Vice-President
Phone: 902-867-2288
E-mail: habitat.unlimited@gmail.com

The Mabou & District Community Development Association: $6,000
To continue its Shea's Brook restoration project to create a more complex habitat suitable for salmon spawning, development, and migration

Salmon trying to survive in the vicinity of Mabou, Cape Breton, have hope, thanks to that community's commitment to the local ecology. The Mabou & District Community Development Association has been working for several years in partnership with the Inverness South Anglers Association to improve and maintain fish habitat. This year they have received the support of the ASCF to continue their efforts.

Work so far has been aimed at improving salmon habitat in the Shea's Brook watershed, which is vital salmon habitat not only because it offers spawning grounds but also because it is a major tributary to the Mull River, a gateway to the Atlantic Ocean. The Association will use its ADCF funding to continue restoration work along a section of Shea's Brook located in Brook Village so as to create a more complex habitat suitable for salmon spawning, development, and migration. In addition, restoration efforts will improve bank stabilization, substrate conditions, and overall water quality.

Contact: Margaret MacDonald, Community Watershed Coordinator
Phone: 902-945-2945
E-mail: mmacdona@middlebury.edu