Endangered Atlantic salmon are returning to N.B. in record numbers
Over 100 endangered Atlantic salmon were counted as they made their return to rivers in New Brunwick’s Fundy National Park. It’s the highest number since 1989 and ecologists are hoping the trend continues.
The aim of the Fundy Salmon Recovery Project is to lend a helping hand to the endangered Atlantic salmon in an effort to increase their population in rivers in the inner bay of Fundy.
This year, it seems their effort is paying off.
By taking juvenile Atlantic salmon from the wild in Fundy National Park to a marine farm where they are reared to mature adults, ecologists aim to cut out the threat the fish would normally face when setting out into open waters. Once the fish grow to maturity in the farm, the project involves transporting the larger salmon back into their river of origin, where the fish get a headstart before their journey back to the sea.
This year, 106 Atlantic salmon were counted returning from the ocean to the rivers on their own to spawn, the highest amount since 1989.
“The results this year are extremely promising,” says Kurt Samways, Research Chair of Parks Canada at University of New Brunswick Saint John.
“Over the past number of years it’s kind of been building to this. Now, to see it, so many years later, and to see not only the salmon returning, but the ecological state of the river improving, it's just wonderful,” said Samways.
You can learn more about the project in the video above.
Thumbnail credit: Parks Canada
