NEWS  What is happening in our community.

Four New Brunswick projects receive ASCF funding for 2009

Four groups working to conserve wild Atlantic salmon stocks in New Brunswick received a total of $47,000 in funding from the Atlantic Salmon Conservation Foundation (ASCF) this year. Details on each of the projects are as follows:

The Miramichi Watershed Management Committee (MWMC): $25,000
To deal with a problem with smallmouth bass in Miramichi Lake

When it was discovered last fall that smallmouth bass had been illegally introduced into Miramichi Lake, salmon conservationists quickly sprang into action to assess the damage. The reason for the urgency is that smallmouth bass are known to eat small trout and salmon and compete with them for food and habitat.

"The introduction of smallmouth bass into the Miramichi River system would be devastating to the salmon and trout populations, as well as to the recreational fishing industry in the Miramichi region," says MWMC spokesperson Debbie Norton.

"This invasion is the largest threat to Atlantic salmon on the Miramichi and the most important project the MWMC has undertaken to date."

MWMC will use its ASCF funds to assess the extent of invasion of smallmouth bass into the lake and into Lake Brook and beyond, possibly into the Miramichi River.

Any smallmouth bass found in the system will be removed.

To assure that we learn from the experience, those involved with the project will also document and assess the eradication/control actions that are taken (or the effects of no action if that is the decision) so as to provide information that will inform further management decisions in the future.

Contact: Debbie Norton
Phone: 506-622-8427
E-mail: mwmc@nb.aibn.com

The Atlantic Salmon Federation, St Andrews, NB: $10,000
To develop a restocking program for the Magaguadavic River

The reasons that Atlantic salmon populations in New Brunswick's Bay of Fundy have declined are still unknown. Until scientists find some answers - and solutions - salmon conservationists are using fish from hatcheries for their restoration efforts.

But when is the best time to transfer the fish from the cushy life in a hatchery to the fish-eat-fish world of the wild? And does the window of opportunity change from river to river? That's what the Atlantic Salmon Federation will try to determine as it develops a restocking program for the Magaguadavic River near St. George, NB.

The project will also maintain a live gene bank program during the recovery period. ASF expects that the results of this project will help to determine what mating combinations work best for hatchery salmon and which is most appropriate life stage for in-river releases. This information will in turn help the overall recovery effort in New Brunswick Rivers. The Magaguadavic River results would also be valuable at an international level for scientists and managers planning recovery programs elsewhere.

Contact: Jonathan Carr, Biologist
Phone: (506) 529-1385
E-mail: jcarr@asf.ca

The Nepisiguit Salmon Assessment and Enhancement Program, Bathurst, NB: $8,000
To continue the Association's restocking and monitoring program of the Nepisiguit River

Salmon stocks in the Nepisiguit River near Bathurst have been improving slowly but steadily thanks to a restocking and monitoring program that has been underway since 1981. The Nepisiguit Salmon Association will use its ASCF funding to continue this important work. Since the Nepisiguit has excellent habitat and water quality, with its watershed primarily in wilderness areas and good water levels, temperatures and oxygen content, it is an prime candidate for providing a healthy recreational angling industry and for maintaining the province's salmon stocks as a legacy for future generations.

Contact: Robert W. Baker
Phone: (506) 546-5279
E-mail: nsa@nbnet.nb.ca

The Restigouche River Watershed Management Council, $4,000
To continue work on the Upsalquitch River to improve water quality and salmon's access to habitat.

When salmon stocks in the second largest river of the Restigouche watershed declined dramatically, the Restigouche River Watershed Management Council (RRWMC) used the money it received from the first round of ASCF funding to find out why, and to devise a management plan to deal with the causes.

This year the Committee will use its ASCF funding to execute parts of that management plan. Specifically, the committee will deal with a pressing accessibility problem by developing a method and training crews to temporarily breach beaver dams that are separating salmon from their feeding and breeding grounds, and by addressing the problems presented by a number of badly placed or badly maintained culverts. Funds will also be used to deal with water quality issues caused by sedimentation and the presence of heavy metals resulting from forestry industry and mining activities in the area.

Contact: David LeBlanc, Executive Director and biologist
Phone: (506) 759-7300
E-mail: restigouche@globetrotter.net