People on the Miramichi River know – we have reached a crisis with our Atlantic salmon.
Black salmon counts were down. Spring salmon counts are down.
Action is needed now to reverse this trend before it is too late.
Miramichi Salmon Association (MSA) and our partners at Collaboration for Atlantic Salmon Tomorrow (CAST)* have a proactive plan to recover the population – Smolt-to Adult Supplementation (SAS). The plan is simple – raise wild Atlantic salmon to maturity and release them back to their home rivers so they can spawn naturally and get millions more salmon eggs back in the river.
• The plan is supported by 6 research scientists at the Canadian Rivers Institute at the University of New Brunswick and Université Laval.
• The plan has been peer reviewed twice by international Atlantic salmon experts selected by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).
• The plan is supported by the Miramichi Salmon Association.
• The plan is not new – SAS has been tried successfully for over 20 years in the Pacific Northwest and for 15 years here at home in the Tobique River.
But DFO, supported by the Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF), are blocking the plan.
Neither DFO nor ASF have produced any peer reviewed science to support their opposition. Their plan is to monitor and to wait. They have no plan to reverse the decline of populations.
The latest correspondence (June 20, 2019) from DFO states: “if CAST would like to pursue activities in other locations, in particular, in locations where local populations have been extirpated [extinct], we invite you to get in touch with us.”
It is clear – DFO has no science to support their opposition to SAS and will only allow action once the species has gone EXTINCT!
THIS IS SIMPLY UNACCEPTABLE.
Once again, we ask that DFO and ASF provide peer reviewed science supporting their opposition of SAS, or join us, and work together to make the plan a reality.
Either Way...
It is time for New Brunswickers to stand together and ACT NOW to save salmon in the Miramichi!
DFO INACTION IS UNACCEPTABLE
• No science to support opposition to SAS
• Ignores 2 peer reviews by international experts selected by DFO
• Action can be taken ONLY when wild Atlantic salmon are EXTINCT on the Miramichi.
*CAST is a non-profit collaboration between Miramichi Salmon Association, Canadian Rivers Institute at the
University of New Brunswick, Cooke Aquaculture Inc., and J.D. Irving, Limited.
The CAST science team for wild Atlantic Salmon is the largest in Canada.
