Fort Folly Habitat Recovery targeting Bay of Fundy salmon

With salmon not returning to the rivers to spawn, a conservation group from the Fort Folly First Nation is trying something new to bring Bay of Fundy salmon back from the brink of extinction.

The group is catching some young wild salmon on their way out to sea on the Pollet River.

Tim Robinson, the manager of the Fort Folly Habitat Recovery Program, says there used to be upwards of 40,000 adult salmon returning to about 50 rivers in the Upper Bay region. However, he says there are fewer than 200 today, so the species is on the verge of extinction.

"They're not returning to the rivers to spawn, so there's no next generation. The cycle is broken," said Robinson.

The fish are studied, tagged, then taken to be raised for a year or more in captivity before being released back into the river.

Researchers hope the bigger, stronger smolts will have a better chance at surviving in the open ocean so they can return to spawn.

The reason why the fish aren't coming back to the river to spawn is not known. It isn't overfishing in the Fundy rivers — there's been a ban on catching salmon since the late 1990s.

"There's any number of potential limiting factors, but that one smoking gun, it's not really known," said Robinson.

He says some of the potential reasons include forestry in the region, changes in the marine environment and food web.

'An innovative experiment'

The idea of raising wild salmon in captivity for part of their lives is a new approach, but worth trying, says Robinson.

"This is an innovative experiment, it's going to take a few years to show whether or not it's a good recovery approach. But, you have other populations of Atlantic salmon trending the same way unfortunately," he said.

Robinson hopes that if the project succeeds, it can be applied to other species across the region.

The project employs aboriginal youth and trains them to work with species at risk. 

Laura Buck is a member of the Fort Folly First Nation and is working as a technician on the project. She is happy to be involved.

"It's culturally important. It's important to me. I feel if we don't have healthy environments, healthy rivers, you know what's going to happen to the species," she said.

The project is a collaborative effort between the Fundy National Park, Fort Folly First Nation, Huntsman Marine Science Centre and Cooke Aquaculture.