Signs of hope and despair for N.B. salmon population

'Every red flag is up everywhere in New Brunswick in terms of salmon population,' says Tommi Linnansaari, a biology professor at the University of New Brunswick, who studies Atlantic salmon. (Nick Hawkins and Tom Cheney/Atlantic Salmon Federation - image credit)
'Every red flag is up everywhere in New Brunswick in terms of salmon population,' says Tommi Linnansaari, a biology professor at the University of New Brunswick, who studies Atlantic salmon. (Nick Hawkins and Tom Cheney/Atlantic Salmon Federation - image credit)

Atlantic salmon returns were at their lowest level ever this year, say researchers, who are nevertheless refusing to give up hope that the species can rebound.

"The times have never been this dire," said Tommi Linnansaari, a biology professor at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, whose research laboratory almost exclusively studies Atlantic salmon.

In the Miramichi River system, for example, the target population for species conservation would be a few thousand fish, but only about 50 fish were counted at each of two barriers — on the Dungarvon and Northwest Miramichi, said Linnansaari.

Similarly, people at the Mactaquac Dam once handled about 30,000 fish a year, but when he was there two weeks ago, they'd seen fewer than 100.

"It's unbelievable," he said.

UNB salmon biologist Tommi Linnansaari doing some field work in Corbett Brook. Linnansaari says he will never give up hope that N.B.'s Atlantic salmon populations can rebound, but the situation has never been so dire.
UNB salmon biologist Tommi Linnansaari doing some field work in Corbett Brook. Linnansaari says he will never give up hope that N.B.'s Atlantic salmon populations can rebound, but the situation has never been so dire.

UNB salmon biologist Tommi Linnansaari is seen here doing some field work in Corbett Brook. Linnansaari says he will never give up hope that N.B.'s Atlantic salmon populations can rebound, but the situation has never been so dire. (Submitted by Tommi Linnansaari)

Linnansaari has not seen figures for the Restigouche or Nepisiguit, but said the pattern was the same.

This year, overall returns were at a record low across the range of Atlantic salmon, said Carole-Anne Gillis, research director at the Gespe'gewa'gi Institute of Natural Understanding, based in Listuguj, Que.

The official numbers from Fisheries and Oceans Canada aren't expected until this winter, but that assessment is based on counts done by different agencies during summer and early fall by various means, including snorkeling or canoeing entire river systems and tallying up fish in pools, she said.

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Some agencies reported they met conservation targets, but just barely, while others observed returns below 50 per cent of what's needed for population sustainability, said Gillis.

"Every red flag is up everywhere in New Brunswick in terms of salmon population," said Linnansaari.

Serious conservation action will be needed by all groups, levels of government and First Nations, he said.

"Everybody will really need to take this seriously because we are now at the brink of losing the salmon in our province," said Linnansaari.

"We're never going to give up hope, but the less fish you have, the incrementally more difficult the recovery will be."

Video captured recently on the Restigouche River is an encouraging sign to some.

It was mid-October and the tourists were gone, leaving the salmon peace and quiet for spawning, said Jonathan Falle.

He recorded a bird's-eye view of about a dozen female salmon, digging nests and laying eggs, and male salmon fertilizing them, in a spawning bed near the Rafting Grounds, about 20 kilometres upriver from Campbellton.

"When I could see there was that much disturbance in the gravel, I knew there was a lot of fish," said Falle, a fifth-generation salmon fishing guide, who lives on the Quebec side of the river in Runnymede.

"When I was a kid my grandfather brought me out — in a boat or off the shore. It was always something I was fascinated about. I always was on the river," said Falle.

For the past couple of years, he's used a drone to film salmon spawning and shares his videos on social media.

Jonathan Falle is a salmon fishing guide on the Restigouche who captured salmon spawning activity with a drone camera.
Jonathan Falle is a salmon fishing guide on the Restigouche who captured salmon spawning activity with a drone camera.

Jonathan Falle is a salmon fishing guide on the Restigouche who captured salmon spawning activity with a drone camera. (Danie Chabot Photography)

"It's something that not everybody can see — unless you watch the Discovery channel or something. Most people don't even know it goes on because — October, there's nobody on the river."

Gillis saw Falle's recent video and commented that it was good to see some fish spawning.

"It gives us hope to see there's still a generation that's coming," she said.

Salmon can be seen using their tails and the river flow to move sediment and create a little dip for their eggs, she noted.

They turn onto their sides while doing this, showing a bit of their light-coloured bellies.

Male salmon jockey for position or sneak in to fertilize the eggs.

Carole-Anne Gillis does field work in September in Hailes Brook, part of the Restigouche River system.
Carole-Anne Gillis does field work in September in Hailes Brook, part of the Restigouche River system.

Carole-Anne Gillis does field work in September in Hailes Brook, part of the Restigouche River system. (Michel Picard/Radio-Canada)

"It is fascinating to see them invest so much energy," said Gillis.

The eggs that are fertilized have to develop into fry, then parr and smolt stages, leave the river and spend at least a couple of years at sea, and survive numerous predators and other threats, before they can return as an adult.

Gillis is fascinated by the fact that salmon often come back and spawn exactly where they were born.

"They know the conditions there are ok," she said.

Salmon have been observed spawning at the site where Falle recorded his video for centuries, said Gillis.

Ideal sites have water about knee deep moving fast enough not to freeze, and gravel that is grape- or fist-size, with low siltation, so the eggs can fill the spaces between the rocks and get oxygen, said Linnansaari.

Perfect spawning beds still exist on the Restigouche, the Miramichi, the Nepisiguit and many other rivers, including the headwaters of the St. John River system, he said.

Gillis and her colleagues were able to go out to the spawning bed documented by Falle and map every rock on the river bottom with sub-centimetre precision, she said.

They plan to do follow up monitoring next summer.