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Vol. 25 November 2018

November has marked the end of our 2018 field season, and this year we were very busy! There were 152,557 salmon fry stocked in 5 main rivers/brooks and surrounding tributaries on the Miramichi River this spring. In our tracking programs (done in conjunction with ASF) we tagged 24 Kelt, and 160 smolts with regular acoustic tags (80 on the Northwest Miramichi, and 80 on the Southwest Miramichi). The results of our 2018 tracking program will be posted in the new year. During our electrofishing program, the MSA surveyed 19 sites on the northwest and southwest branches of the Miramichi. We focused on areas upstream of dams removed in 2017 and previously stocked sites. When working in conjunction with DFO, 54 sites were surveyed. Salmon fry were present at every site that was surveyed this year in various densities. (Photo: MSA Biologist Kelsey McGee with field technician executing the electrofishing program)

Our 2018 beaver dam management program saw over 20 dams breached even with the low water conditions and our field crews watched as adult Atlantic salmon migrated up these obstructed streams and brooks to spawn. One cold water habitat restoration project was completed this year on Burntland Brook on the Main Southwest Miramichi. Our broodstock have all been spawned and now we are waiting for their eggs to hatch (typically in late March to early April). 2019 is starting to look equally as busy as funding applications for next year’s projects are being submitted.  

On November 15, 2018, the Maliseet Nation Conservation Council along with Fisheries and Oceans Canada hosted the Eastern Canadian Launch of the International Year of the Salmon (IYS) in Saint John, NB. The event was attended by a variety of public and private agencies, conservation organizations (including the MSA), Indigenous communities, and academics involved in the conservation and research of wild Atlantic salmon.   

The IYS is an international initiative developed by the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC), the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO) and other partners. With environmental change and human impacts across the Northern Hemisphere placing salmon at risk, the IYS aims to bring people together to share and develop knowledge more effectively, raise awareness and take action - the overall theme of the IYS is: “ Salmon and People in a Changing World”.  2019 is the focal year of the IYS, with research and outreach continuing through to 2022. 

For more information on this exciting new salmon conservation initiative, please Click Here to visit the website .

The MSA’s 5th Carleton County fundraising dinner in honour of Dwight Perkins took place on November 8 ^th at the Covered Bridge Golf Course (CBGC) and it was a great success! Dwight is a long-time member of the MSA, a founding member of the Miramichi Headwaters Salmon Federation and a true champion of conservation. It was with great pleasure that we were able to h9onour Dwight at this years' dinner. The night featured a wonderful meal, a live auction, a silent auction and some fun raffles! The staff at the the CBGC did a wonderful job catering the event, which in total raised just shy of $20,000. The Miramichi Salmon Association relies on these fundraising events to generate a significant portion of the annual revenues required to carry on conservation activities that help sustain and protect two of New Brunswick’s great natural resources: the wild Atlantic salmon and the mighty Miramichi River that is their home. (Photo L to R: MSA President Mark Hambrook, Dinner Honouree Dwight Perkins and MSA Director Joe Palmer.)

The MSA is busy getting the 2019 Calendars out to its members. This years calendar, entitled 'Looking Back', features 12+ vintage photos highlighting the Miramichi Watershed and many who have fished it.

If you are not currently a member of the MSA, the 2019 Calendar can be purchased here!

Upcoming MSA Events You Don't Want to Miss

65th Annual Boston Dinner - February 2nd, 2019 - Burlington, MA

MSA 2019 Annual General Meeting - April 27th, 2019 - Boiestown, NB

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!