2018 SMRA NEWS Online (NXPowerLite Copy)

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Page 6 2017 Habitat Committee Report The SMRA has completed the fourth year of the multi-year West River (St. Mary’s) Habitat Restoration Project. The 2017 work built on the restoration started in 2014 and to date almost twenty kilometers of the river has been completed. The restoration includes a variety of structures that are aimed at creating a narrower deeper channel with more pools. The upper portion of the picture shows the narrower channel with more meander on the restored section as compared to the bottom portion of the picture where no work was done. The narrower deeper channel increases juvenile survival over the summer and reduces winter ice production that causes spring time damage to the river. We have also planted numerous trees to reduce bank erosion and provide more shade along the edge of the river. Another part of the restoration work is to use a “Sand Wand” to remove sand from the gravel spawning beds on two of the tributaries to the West Branch. This enhances spawning conditions for both salmon and trout. What is even more exciting is the increased number of salmon using the restored area to spawn. Prior to starting the work in 2014 a survey found only salmon 25 - 30 redds (places where salmon spawn) in the entire restored area and this fall there were almost 200, a six fold increase. A similar section of the West Branch, where no restoration has been completed, has had no significant change in the number observed redds. This highlights the preference spawning salmon have for the restored habitat. This restoration work is expensive and we could not have been able to proceed without the financial help of our funding partners DFO (Small Craft Harbours & Recreational Fisheries Conservation Partnership Program), the Atlantic Salmon Conservation Foundation, NSLC Adopt-A-Stream, and the Royal Bank.
Page 7 IT Committee Update The St Mary’s River Association web site launched over a year ago is well positioned to keep our audience informed. This year, working with the Paddlers Paradise Committee, we added content related to St. Mary’s river pools; including maps, pictures and stories of long ago days on the river that will educate and entertain the reader. We invite you to go to the Paddlers Paradise section of the RECREATION tab on the website and click on Virtual Tour to explore further. Look at the Silver’s Pool or Goldmine pages to get a feel for the importance of our river in past times. View the slideshows on our Home Page that will give you a glimpse of some of the activities that our members have participated in this past year. We are also active on social media – specifically Facebook and Twitter. We post daily communications to keep our river friends informed on our activities and interests. Links to news items or videos published by our partners and other organizations have proven to be quite popular We ask you to take some time out of your day, and look us up on Facebook or explore our website. You might be surprised at what you will learn. Lastly, for those of you planning to attend the biennial Antigonish River Association October auction and dinner, please consider purchasing your tickets online through our online Gift Shop later in the year. Left - Banner from our website www.stmarysriverassociation.com 2018 Bi-annual Salmon Charity Dinner Auction Events planned include: • Fly tying forum • *NEW* Modern Spey casting lessons & demonstrations • *NEW* Rod building • *NEW* Cork turning Saturday, October 13, 2018 McKay Room Student Union Building St. FX University, Antigonish NS
Page 1 and 2: Page 1 SMRA NEWS Online / spring 20
Page 3 and 4: Page 3 EDITORIAL Welcome to our fir
Page 5: Page 5 Molly’s Fish Story Tucking
Page 9 and 10: Page 9 2017 Entering the water for
Page 11 and 12: Page 11 Left - Sandy Barnhill & All
Page 13 and 14: on the St. S Inland Page 13
Page 15 and 16: Page 15
Page 17 and 18: Page 17 Passing it On Don MacLean I
Page 19 and 20: Page 19 The new system will use the
Page 21 and 22: Page 21 SMRA Alumni We have a photo
Page 23 and 24: Page 23 Member of the Year Who Know
Page 25 and 26: Page 25 Silver’s Ledge Photograph
Page 27 and 28: Page 27 Here we see girl guides hel
Page 29 and 30: Page 29 HIGHLAND HOME BUILDING CENT
Page 31 and 32: Page 31 Photographs by Chris Sincla
Page 33 and 34: Page 33 SMRA Online Gift Shop For y
Page 35 and 36: Page 35 Silver’s Pool Salmon by T
Page 37 and 38: Page 37 George F. MacDonald & Sons
Page 39 and 40: Page 39 Dan lived right on the bank
Page 41 and 42: Page 41 From the Shallow End of the
Page 43 and 44: Page 43 NS Hatch Chart People get r
Page 45 and 46: Page 45 Underwater Photographs by G
Page 47 and 48: Page 47 These six words changed the
Page 49 and 50: Page 49 Fly Tyer’s Corner The Duc
Page 51 and 52: Page 51 President: Scott Beaver Vic

2018 SMRA NEWS Online (NXPowerLite Copy)

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?