Jonathan Carr could almost tell you how a sailor's sweetheart felt a century ago looking out at the sea for a sail on the horizon.
Carr, a research biologist for the Atlantic Salmon Federation in St. Andrews, watches every year hoping the Atlantic salmon will return to the Magaguadavic River like they did year's ago.
This year only six came back to a river system with habitat to support a run of 1,500 adult fish coming home to spawn, Carr said in an interview this week.
These six native fish do not count 16 escapees from aquaculture cages in the Bay of Fundy.
It has been 17 years since an angler could cast a fly into the Magaguadavic and expect to land a salmon.
If the big salmon runs of years past ever do come back to this 90-kilometre river in southwest New Brunswick the Magaguadavic River Salmon Restoration Project will very likely have a lot to do with it.
The restoration project began in 1998, but took a big leap forward when Cooke Aquaculture made space and expertise available at its hatchery at Thomaston Corner - on the headwaters of the Magaguadavic where the river crosses Highway 3 in southwest York County, between McAdam and Harvey.
The federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans hatchery at Mactaquac began transferring eggs from Magagauadavic salmon to the Cooke Aquaculture site at Thomaston Corner in 2007.
The salmon that these eggs produced will produce eggs of their own this year, ready to fill the tanks at a new outbuilding at Thomaston Corner, hatchery manager Mike Watson said in a news release.
In fact, the restoration project will soon have a surfeit of Magaguadavic salmon with about 1,500 fish - an entire spawning run for this river - in tanks at Macataquac and Thomaston Corner, Carr said.
This winter research will continue on the best life-stage to return the fish to their river - eggs, fry, fingerling, parr, smolt, adult.
Biologists know from the clipped fins that at least three of the six Magaguadavic salmon that came home to spawn this year started with this restocking program. They suspect that the other three did, too, Carr said.
Different groups - angling organizations, industry, federal and provincial government and others - back the restoration project.
It began in 1998 by taking native adult salmon from the Magaguadavic River and raising their young in a "live gene bank program" at the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans hatchery at Mactaquac, Carr said.
Restocking started in the river itself about 2002. "We put them in as fry, parr, smolt and adult," Carr said.
The first grilse, salmon that return to spawn after one year at sea, came back in 2005. The first multi-sea-winter fish from the restoration program returned in 2006.
With Cooke Aquaculture on board the project grew.
Other companies help too. J. D. Irving, Limited minimizes operation of its hydro-electric dam at St. George at night from April 15 to June 15 to make way for smolt which move mostly at night on their way to sea in the spring.
A Magauadavic salmon will travel all the way to Greenland looking for food before it heads back to its spawning beds, Carr said.
Young salmon imprint on their native rivers. If they grow up in Magaguadavic River water at Thomaston Corner they will head back there, he said.
The best 25 km of salmon spawning grounds on the Magaguadavic start about six km below Pomeroy Bridge in the middle of Charlotte County, running up to Thomaston Corner, he said.
Atlantic Salmon Feberation. 23 October 2009
Carr, a research biologist for the Atlantic Salmon Federation in St. Andrews, watches every year hoping the Atlantic salmon will return to the Magaguadavic River like they did year's ago.
This year only six came back to a river system with habitat to support a run of 1,500 adult fish coming home to spawn, Carr said in an interview this week.
These six native fish do not count 16 escapees from aquaculture cages in the Bay of Fundy.
It has been 17 years since an angler could cast a fly into the Magaguadavic and expect to land a salmon.
If the big salmon runs of years past ever do come back to this 90-kilometre river in southwest New Brunswick the Magaguadavic River Salmon Restoration Project will very likely have a lot to do with it.
The restoration project began in 1998, but took a big leap forward when Cooke Aquaculture made space and expertise available at its hatchery at Thomaston Corner - on the headwaters of the Magaguadavic where the river crosses Highway 3 in southwest York County, between McAdam and Harvey.
The federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans hatchery at Mactaquac began transferring eggs from Magagauadavic salmon to the Cooke Aquaculture site at Thomaston Corner in 2007.
The salmon that these eggs produced will produce eggs of their own this year, ready to fill the tanks at a new outbuilding at Thomaston Corner, hatchery manager Mike Watson said in a news release.
In fact, the restoration project will soon have a surfeit of Magaguadavic salmon with about 1,500 fish - an entire spawning run for this river - in tanks at Macataquac and Thomaston Corner, Carr said.
This winter research will continue on the best life-stage to return the fish to their river - eggs, fry, fingerling, parr, smolt, adult.
Biologists know from the clipped fins that at least three of the six Magaguadavic salmon that came home to spawn this year started with this restocking program. They suspect that the other three did, too, Carr said.
Different groups - angling organizations, industry, federal and provincial government and others - back the restoration project.
It began in 1998 by taking native adult salmon from the Magaguadavic River and raising their young in a "live gene bank program" at the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans hatchery at Mactaquac, Carr said.
Restocking started in the river itself about 2002. "We put them in as fry, parr, smolt and adult," Carr said.
The first grilse, salmon that return to spawn after one year at sea, came back in 2005. The first multi-sea-winter fish from the restoration program returned in 2006.
With Cooke Aquaculture on board the project grew.
Other companies help too. J. D. Irving, Limited minimizes operation of its hydro-electric dam at St. George at night from April 15 to June 15 to make way for smolt which move mostly at night on their way to sea in the spring.
A Magauadavic salmon will travel all the way to Greenland looking for food before it heads back to its spawning beds, Carr said.
Young salmon imprint on their native rivers. If they grow up in Magaguadavic River water at Thomaston Corner they will head back there, he said.
The best 25 km of salmon spawning grounds on the Magaguadavic start about six km below Pomeroy Bridge in the middle of Charlotte County, running up to Thomaston Corner, he said.
Atlantic Salmon Feberation. 23 October 2009