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SALMONEdited by Jacques Héroux COUNTRY

New Brunswick’s Great Rivers

DOUG UNDERHILL

Photographs by ANDRÉ GALLANT with Benoît Chalifour  Village of Kouchibouguac sign with a .

 Help salmon by purchasing ATLANTIC SALMON IN NEW BRUNSWICK: Past, Present and Future

MUCH SOUGHT AFTER since earliest times, the Atlantic salmon was certainly a food staple for First Nations people and during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, became the target of commercial fi sheries. As time marched forward, many companies in Miramichi and around New Brunswick bought salmon catches and shipped them to markets around the world. Until the mid-1950s, it was common to see salmon stands with gill nets erected along most New Brunswick rivers. Fishermen plied the waters of Chaleur Bay, Miramichi Bay, and the Bay of Fundy for them. Salmon was a food fi shery, and the philosophy was to catch as many as possible with little thought for the future.

13 As Edward Weeks wrote in The Miramichi & Club: A History (1984):

In the last half of the nineteenth century it was game rather than fish which attracted sportsmen from New York and New England to the Northwest Miramichi in New Brunswick. The tundra and forests were then alive with caribou and moose; a moosehead with a fine spread was a valued trophy to be hung in one’s billiard room, proof of the hunter’s virility, if not his aim, as the moose is the largest animal in and on its favourite feeding grounds, swamps and shallow lake shore, presents a favourite target.

When the rivers of New England and some in Badge worn by licensed NB Guides with the year of issue. ceased to have good numbers of salmon, “sports” began to turn to New Brunswick as a destination for As late as the mid-1950s, many local people would Atlantic salmon. By the 1870s, those who could afford net a night or two in the fall to get their winter’s fish it bought or leased large tracts of land and water from and salt them in a barrel full of brine to ensure they the provincial government and built private camps. kept. During this period, though, the role of rivers People “from away” also began to buy up private began to shift and began to be seen as a resource for property that had belonged to the local residents. economic development. In addition to carrying logs Many of these pieces of land came with the riparian downriver to mills each spring, hydroelectric dams rights granted to the early settlers. When times were gradually became common along the Saint John River. tough for both farmers and woodsmen, and taxes put a Mining operations and large mills spewed industrial drain on meagre incomes, they were happy to sell land pollution into the water. Rivers were also becoming and water rights. Today, many of these properties are septic systems for communities. worth millions of dollars. The provincial government People took for granted that salmon would leased particular stretches of water to the highest always be there, until stocks began to dwindle and bidders for periods of ten to twenty years. In recent the industries began to suffer. Years later, in years, more stipulations have been placed upon such response to this trend, the emphasis turned towards leases. Successful bidders must now employ a certain conservation. was banned within number of people and have a warden patrol the territorial waters during the second half of the 20th waters. century, with increased emphasis on scientific research During the mid-to-late 20th century, the provincial and environmental concerns. While this was taking government began to set aside some stretches of water place, the sport of angling for Atlantic salmon was known as Crown Reserve sections. These are granted gradually beginning to establish itself. This is not to residents only on a lottery basis for a few days. to say that angling for salmon was never done prior In the mid-1950s, more and more anglers began to this, but the art of angling with a fly was not a to use to fish salmon. Originally, it was mostly common practice. the “sports” who used them. Most local people went

14 Restigouche Sam: 8.5-metre stainless-steel statue in Campbellton, NB, honouring the Atlantic salmon heritage of the Restigouche River. to the rivers with the purpose of bringing home fish six to two — and in the past ten years or so — to one for food. The use of bait and tackle was more apt to per day. As a further conservation measure, there are catch fish than a fly. hook-and-release licenses available for anglers who do During the last twenty years, some rivers have been not plan to retain a fish. designated “ Only” in an effort to promote Another conservation move required the release of conservation. Daily and seasonal to reduce all salmon that were over 63 centimetres (approx. 24 the number of fish caught and retained are in place. ¾ inches) fork length. This measurement extends from A tagging system has also been initiated: anglers are the tip of the nose to the middle of the fork in the given a fixed number of tags per season. Any fish tail. As such, only grilse can be retained by anglers. retained had to have one of these tags attached or the This allows larger females to proceed upriver to the catch is considered illegal. When the allowed allotment spawning grounds. Although there may be exceptions, of tags for the season is used, anglers are not allowed the average female grilse carries 2,500 eggs, while a to fish for grilse until the next season. mature female carries about 8,000. Each river’s salmon Gradually, the number of tags has been reduced. may have a slightly different egg count, but a rule of As of the printing of this book, the maximum per thumb for determining egg counts on the Miramichi angler per season is eight. Catch limits have gradually system is 650 eggs per pound (0.45 kg) of fish. The dropped from almost no restrictions to ten daily to bigger the female, the bigger the eggs. The bigger the

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“We ”make our way down the bank to the river guarded by a cedar fence that snakes along beside us to where the canoes wait like faithful dogs. On the far shore, numerous hills butt against each other as if they are jostling for a better view of the water. egg, the more protein, and thereby a bigger hatchling with a greater chance of survival. The end result is more eggs in the rivers, increasing the possibility of more salmon in the future. Some stretches of water were also designated as Daily and Live Release Crown Reserves, allowing both salmon and grilse an opportunity to . Even the spring salmon season changed in terms of the numbers of fish allowed to be hooked in a day. From basically no limit, the number of fish landed and released was set at ten per day, but all salmon have to be released. If a grilse is kept, fishing is over for the day for this particular angler. This protection results in less stress on the salmon, which have spawned the previous fall and wintered over before going back to sea. If fewer are injured or killed, this increases the odds of more fish returning to spawn. Angling for bright grilse and salmon (those that enter the rivers from late May to October) is also limited to four a day with live release or one a day if a grilse is retained. All salmon must be released and are counted in an allotted four-a-day landed. A move toward increased use of barbless hooks has also worked its way into conservation measures. A barbless (or pinched barb) hook causes less damage to a fish and increases its survival rate. All spring salmon angling now requires barbless hooks, and some stretches of water are also designated as barbless for the season. Many outfitters and camp owners have moved toward strictly live-release angling and advertise as such. Anglers who retain a fish are encouraged to release female grilse in an effort to increase the number of spawners in the system. Over the years, government and conservation groups have steadily increased their conservation efforts. The government has finally begun imposing more environmental requirements on industry. Buffer zones of trees between clearcuts near rivers are required to prevent silt run-off, as well as more stringent regulations on changes to brooks or feeder streams. Environmental impact studies are now required for many development projects, so progress is being made. The federal Department of and Oceans (DFO) has been conducting more and more scientific

18 research regarding all aspects of the Atlantic salmon. Larger wild Charitable organizations such as the Atlantic Salmon Atlantic salmon Federation and New Brunswick Salmon Council, females prepare together with many local associations, have been ASF deeper nests, heavily involved in conservation projects from habitat potentially reducing restoration, enhancement, and preservation to stocking susceptibility to and research. There are now trap nets, hatcheries, and destruction from counting fences to facilitate data collection. Work has gravel shifts, low been done to have First Nations involvement in many river levels, and of these projects. The Pabineau First Nations, who freezing. operate the counting fence on the Nepisiguit River, are a prime example of successful cooperation to restore and conserve salmon populations. The economic spinoffs of salmon angling are worth millions of dollars, and gradually governments are coming to realize just how important the sport has become. But more must be done. The Atlantic salmon is a vital resource and more effort has to be taken towards its protection.

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