CAST (Collaboration for Atlantic Salmon Tomorrow) – UNB

Throughout the Miramichi watershed, temperature loggers and discharge measuring pressure loggers are being deployed to monitor seasonal physical changes in the river. The dropping water levels allowed us to activate the sonar sites in the Southwest River near Blackville and in the Little Southwest River near Upper Oxbow. The first data sets from this year are currently being evaluated for fish numbers and the results will soon be published on the website “www.castsalmon.com”.

With the help of several stationary radio antennas, the outmigration of multiple wild Atlantic salmons was observed over the last couple of weeks. Meanwhile, new stations are being installed along the Little Southwest and the Northwest branch to survey the migration behaviour of Atlantic salmon during their 2018 spawning season. In addition to the stationary setup, active tracking of the fish will be conducted for more detailed information on the behaviour of the fish during their journey.

We were able to identify true spawning redds within the experimental section in the Northwest Millstream. These spawning redds originate from SAS Atlantic salmon released into the Northwest Millstream in 2017. A few samples from selected redds were collected for parental analyses.

Currently, Alevin from a laboratory egg experiment, including wild and SAS Atlantic salmon, are being moved into bigger tanks. These young fish will be raised further in the hatchery and will be closely monitored and analysed for their phenotypical appearance later in the year.

The collection of environmental DNA samples of the Atlantic salmon and Striped Bass across the entire Miramichi River system is ramping up as well. This samples will compliment those collected in the fall and give insight into seasonal variation in river presence.