Message from Our President

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Published on Thursday, 01 September 2016 09:18

Written by Super User

Peter J Cronin

New Brunswick Salmon Council

President’s Message

August 2016

Greetings and a warm welcome to our Affiliates, anglers, Friends of the Atlantic salmon, conservationists and visitors to the New Brunswick Salmon Council’s webpage.  Before I focus on one of the most valuable natural resources in NB, I would like to acknowledge the tireless volunteer efforts of our Board of Directors and those individuals who have held this post over the years as well as previous and current Executive Officers, Committee Chairs and Committee Members.  The significant work that our volunteers do in the interest of conserving the wild Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) stocks that are native to our New Brunswick’s rivers is outstanding.

The primary purpose of the Council is to ensure a healthy future for our wild Atlantic salmon populations.  Unfortunately, I am writing this message at a time when our Atlantic salmon stocks are facing a number of global, regional and local threats to their future.

Wild Atlantic salmon have a significant historical, cultural and economic value to New Brunswickers.  We hold a special place in our hearts, and pocketbooks, for the species.  The importance of this fish goes beyond the 10,500 seasonal and full-time jobs that they provide but also includes the intrinsic values placed on the species by the citizens of the Province, Canada and our international visitors.  Natural resources are prominent to indigenous cultures and wild salmon is a key species for food, social and ceremonial importance to Aboriginal communities. Salmon festivals are also common events in some communities.  The Atlantic salmon is prominently displayed on the top of our Provincial Coat of Arms.

A mysterious fish, it survives in both fresh and salt water and navigates thousands of kilometers to feed in the North Atlantic before returning to the origin of its birth to reproduce.  The Atlantic salmon define the very essence of the North Atlantic Ocean and its wild, free flowing rivers like the Restigouche and the Miramichi.  Its future can no longer be taken for granted.  Over the past 40 years the numbers of adult wild Atlantic salmon have fallen by more than half.

For the near future, the NBSC is focused on a number of important initiatives.

• Council will continue to work with government agencies to protect aquatic habitats, the development of a NB Water strategy, and on several files including hydraulic fracturing, Energy East Pipeline and the Sisson Mine Project. 
• One of our affiliates, the St. John Basin Salmon Recovery Inc. (SJBSRI) continues to take the lead, with support from Council and ASF, to pursue the removal of Mactaquac Dam by the year 2030. We have requested that NB Power take into account all appropriate ecosystem factors in order to minimize impacts on the future of salmon populations in the watershed.
• A significant number of our Affiliate volunteers continue to undertake important salmon population and habitat enhancement projects with financial support from the Atlantic Salmon Conservation Foundation, the NB Wildlife Trust Fund, the NB Environmental Trust Fund and the DFO Recreational Fisheries Conservation Partnerships Program.
• Council has requested that the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) increase enforcement capacity and improve efficiencies through collaboration with the NB conservation agency (Public Safety), and enhance the Native Guardian programs and other partnerships with anglers and river groups
• We seek the reduction in the harvest of multi-sea winter salmon (large female fish) including those caught in the fisheries at home and in the North Atlantic.
• Council is committed to the concept of harvesting fish based on their abundance and opposed to blanket harvest regulations.  We have therefore requested that DFO network with First Nations and recreational angling interests to set appropriate daily and seasonal bag limits including consideration of grilse and large salmon retention limits in accordance with the principles of the Precautionary Approach and status of the stocks.
• We also recognize the need for the federal and provincial regulators, in collaboration with the aquaculture industry, to address the threats that open pen salmon culture pose to wild Atlantic salmon
• The NBSC remains concerned about the illegal introduction of the non-native species of smallmouth bass into Miramichi Lake. If smallmouth bass leave the lake and become established throughout the Miramichi watershed, they will significantly harm the ecosystem including Atlantic salmon populations.  We continue to encourage DFO to consider immediate eradication of this invasive species.
• The NBSC also supports increased science to identify and address factors responsible for low marine survival.

For my parting thoughts, I would like to encourage you to actively participate in helping the salmon by recognizing the financial, social and cultural importance of salmon to our Province and our way of life, by protecting our environment and by informing your local MPs and MLAs that you personally are concerned about the future of this valuable resource.  Finally, I hope to see many of you on the river, at conservation meetings or involved in projects to restore our fish stocks.