Nelson Sergerie, LJI Journalist
changes to salmon fishing for the 2025 season align with requests made by the Gaspé River Management Corporation.
The Quebec government has submitted proposals for consultation, prompted by historically low salmon runs in the summer of 2024 and high probabilities of continued low runs of large salmon in most Québec rivers in 2025.
For large salmon measuring 63 centimetres and over, no retention will be possible this year and for small salmon measuring less than 63 centimetres, a catch-and-release policy will be in effect at the beginning of the season.
The Ministry of Wildlife is also considering reducing the daily catch and release quota from three to two on the salmon rivers in the Gaspésie, a measure that came into force in 2024 and will be renewed next year.
“We pretty much agree with what is being proposed: a cautious approach given the runs in recent years that were catastrophic in some rivers. This was not the case in Gaspé, but it was still low. Given that it was a generalized picture, it was quite worrying. We prefer to rely on caution and save our fish population for future years,” explains the general manager of the management company, Rémi Lesmerises.
On Gaspé rivers, the Saint-Jean recorded 640 large salmon, which is above the average for the last 10 years. “For the York (River), with 700 large salmon, we are below average, but it is not unheard of. We have already seen 500 or 600 salmon, but it remains below average. At the Dartmouth, we are below 300 large salmon and 13 grilse. It is in less good health and that worries us,” notes Mr. Lesmerises.
The number of grilse are also lower in the other two rivers: approximately 80 on the Saint-Jean and about 90 on the York.
“It is not much compared to what we usually see, for example, 200-300-400 grilse. It is not high and it suggests a similar scenario for next year in terms of large salmon or perhaps lower,” says Mr. Lesmerises.
The fishing conditions of the summer of 2024 with the low rainfall and low and warm water are cooling the ardor of fishermen while registrations for the winter draws are down by 30%.
year. We are back to 2018 participation levels. It is not catastrophic,” maintains the director.
“If we had had good weather conditions and cooler temperatures, the fishing would have been relatively good but that is not what we observed. It had an impact on fishing. We did not necessarily want fishermen to come in these conditions which were reflected in our revenues. We will be in deficit this year, but we cannot assess it at the moment,” notes the manager who has a cushion to deal with the shortfall.
The ministry says it is sensitive to the possible consequences of these recommendations and the need to survey the stakeholders concerned. The terms and conditions will be released in the winter of 2025.
No restrictions are currently planned on fishing activities carried out for food, ritual or social purposes.
Salmon disease
A research project is being launched to understand what is happening with saprolegniosis, led by Louise Chevarie, a Gaspé native and researcher based in Sweden.
The research project is being carried out in collaboration with the Micmac and Wolastoqey Aboriginal Fisheries Management Association.
“There are different subjects: the interaction between salmon and striped bass, which will also be studied on the York River, and also saprolegniosis. What is different about the York compared to the Cascapedia and the Sainte-Anne? What is the difference between infected and uninfected fish? Is there a difference in the immune system? A difference in terms of contamination? Are some more susceptible to the disease? The goal is always the same: to find solutions but to find solutions, we need to understand,” says Mr. Lesmerises.
Water tests were taken once again this summer.
Log jam on the Saint-Jean
Work was carried out on the mouth of the Saint-Jean River to clear accumulated wood from the estuary. This spring, numerous trees had become lodged where the channel splits into two branches. The water was flowing well and so were the fish.
“It was apparent that the next trees were going to get stuck and accumulate. We cleaned it up and should let the next dead trees through during the next flood,” notes Mr. Lesmerises, who does not want to relive the 1.5-kilometre log jam dismantled in 2015.