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Vol. 20 June 2018

This past month has gone by in a flash and we have had a very busy field crew here at the MSA. June started with the extraction of our smolt wheels from the Little Southwest Miramichi River after collecting a total of 5000 smolt for the Smolt to Adult Supplementation program. For two weeks we collected Plankton samples for our new striped bass larval study in 3 different rivers. The samples are now being processed in the hopes of larval bass and eggs being identified. The first-feeding fry are now being released into their natal rivers...

Releasing fry in Elliot Brook

This month several schools from the Miramichi area released salmon fry into the river as a part of the Fish Friends program. Fish Friends, facilitated by the New Brunswick Salmon Council, uses salmon eggs provided by the Miramichi Salmon Association in 15 tanks in schools around the Miramichi. This includes schools from Red Bank, to Napan, to Doaktown and all in between! In this program, students learn about the salmon life cycle by seeing it in action, with the help of several volunteers who maintain the tanks and further teach the children about salmon. The salmon go from egg to fry right in the school, in front of students eyes! The program ends with the students releasing the fry into the same watershed that the eggs were obtained from. The MSA is delighted to aid in passing on knowledge to the next generation!

Bonar Law Memorial High School students release salmon fry in Doaktown

For the last 65 years, the MSA has conducted art and writing contest for schoolchildren of the Miramichi. In 2016, our Art Contest was renamed in memory of Bruno Bobak, a celebrated artist and passionate supporter of the MSA. This year's winners came from Sunny Corner all the way to Blackville, with impressive writing, unique drawings, and creative stories. The overall winner of the art contest was Gavin Wishart, a grade five student from NSEE, with his drawing being chosen by Alex Bobak, Bruno's son. NSEE was awarded a Bruno Bobak print for Gavin's winning drawing. One of the main motivations of the MSA is to pass on our passion for salmon conservation to the younger generation, and this contest does just that!

Gavin Wishart's receiving the Bruno Bobak print from MSA biologist Kelsey McGee

Over the last week, CAST and MSA staff have been deploying/fishing a fyke net in hopes to capture summer run Atlantic salmon in the Northwest Miramichi (above Trout Brook) and Little Southwest Miramichi (Above Upper Oxbow Outdoor Adventures). The fish that are successfully caught will be tagged with a radio tag and released. The Little Southwest Miramichi summer run salmon are part of a thermal habitat study, looking at what cold water refuge (thermal refuge) adult Atlantic salmon seek during the summer when water temperatures reach 22 – 25 degrees Celsius. These salmon will also provide important research data to the migration and spawning behavior study.

CAST member Ryan Carrow with a salmon in the Northwest Miramichi

We are still accepting photo entries for the MSA's 3rd Annual Photo Contest! We want YOUR photos from your fishing adventures, and your life here in the Miramichi. Each entrant can submit 2 photos in each category including Angling, Miramichi Scenes, Miramichi People, and Kids. Each category winner will receive a gift card generously donated by Bass Pro Shops. All entrants will have a chance for their work to be used in MSA's communications and social media platforms. Enter your photos at the link below!

Photo by Jason Curtis

For the weekend of June 22-24, Miramichi welcomed the Atlantic Salmon Fly International Expo to our cozy town. This is the first time since the expo started that it has been held outside of the USA, so it is a great honour for Miramichi to be chosen for an event of this magnitude. Fly tiers came from all over the world, including Finland, Japan, Great Britain, Italy, and more! The event brought crowds of hundreds to experience the art of fly tying first hand. The MSA was also present at the show with a booth of our own promoting our 65-year history of protecting and conserving salmon throughout the Miramichi watershed

Upcoming MSA Events You Don't Want to Miss

13th Annual Miramichi Salmon Classic - Miramichi, NB - July 8-11, 2018

4th Annual Southern Maine Striper Derby - Scarborough, ME - July 8, 2018

Still not a member of the Miramichi Salmon Association?

  Membership in the MSA is the perfect way to express your passion and support for the Miramichi River, for the Atlantic salmon who make it their home, and for the vital work being done by the MSA to protect and conserve both for today and tomorrow!

Click here to sign up today!