Since 1953 the Miramichi Salmon Association (MSA) has worked toward the preservation of the wild Atlantic salmon and the enhancement of salmon habitat. At the MSA we are constantly striving to build and strengthen our membership, so we encourage you, if not already a member, to please join our ranks. 
Become a member!
Your monthly resource for MSA conservation updates, Miramichi Watershed Information, upcoming MSA Events and much much more.
Visit our website
Be sure to stay up to date with videos and photos by liking us on Facebook and Twitter:
Facebook  Twitter  Youtube  

Vol. 52 November 2022

President's Update

by Dr. Robyn McCallum

Hi everyone,


Fall activities including spawning obstruction management and broodstock spawning are well-underway. We were able to spawn adults from the Cains and Juniper as part of our traditional broodstock program. Thank you to the many anglers involved in the Cains collection, and Sara Lloyd and her team from NBCC Miramichi for assisting us with the Juniper collection. We are also spawning fish as part of our Dungarvon fry-stocking research project, in collaboration with Dr. Tommi Linnansaari and his team.


Congratulations to the winners of our photo contest and thank you to all those who submitted photos! This was our most popular year yet, and we appreciate sponsorship from the AV Group of NB. You can view the photos on our website.


It was wonderful to resume in-person fundraising events, including with our October 5th Fredericton Dinner that honored Jo-Anne Linton. We had a great crowd, popular auction items, and perfect company to guide us through the evening. Thank you to our generous sponsors and donors, all those who purchased tickets and/or auction items, and the folks behind the scenes who put together this event. You knocked it out of the park! We are headed to Saint John November 4th for the Autumn Dinner and hope to see you there!


MSA Directors will come together in Freeport and virtually on November 18th for our next board meeting. We are excited to get back to meetings in the US and hope to see a great turnout from both our MSA board and MSA US board. Committee members have been hard at work to pull together summaries for presentations and reports for this upcoming meeting.


Thank you for all you do to support the MSA and Atlantic Salmon conservation on the Miramichi.


Robyn

MSA Saint John Autumn Dinner -

get you tickets! 

Auction Preview 

This coming Friday, November 4, 2022, the Saint John Committee of the Miramichi Salmon Association (MSA) will be holding its annual MSA Autumn Run Dinner’ at the Delta Brunswick Hotel where we will be kicking off the 70th Anniversary of the MSA organization as well as the 150th Anniversary of the oldest operating fish hatchery in Canada, located in South Esk, NB. Tickets are selling fast, to reserve yours please click the link below. 

Tickets

2022 MSA Photo Contest

A big thank you to everyone who submitted photos to our MSA Photo Contest sponsored by AV Group. We appreciate all the entries we received and our judges, MSA director Greg Sprague and Steve Rosenfeld, had a hard time deciding which of them were our winners! In the end they chose the photo featured below as the overall winner - "Guide on the River" by Iris Ciecko

"General Practitioner in Autumn" - Daniel Porter

"Fall on the River" by Stephanie Elson 

"Charles Richard" by Taylor Colford 

For a look at all the photos submitted in this year please click the link below. You won't be disappointed! 

View Photos 

Beaver Dam Notching

The MSA has been carefully notching beaver dams each autumn for many years to assist fish in their upstream migration to spawn. Thanks to financial support from the New Brunswick Wildlife Trust Fund, our team spent a day with folks from Ducks Unlimited Canada recently to try a new method as well- a pond leveler, also known as a beaver flow device, or a fish passage device. This device is installed to help fish move through beaver dams, with minimal interference to the dam. This device also helps to move cold water that may become impounded by the dam.

Overall, this project helps fish, minimizes our impact to nature, mitigates impacts of climate change, and increases team efficiency. When we notch a beaver dam in a traditional way, beavers can rebuild within 24-48hrs- meaning staff have to consistently visit the site. Earlier in the season, staff conducted electrofishing to gather information on fish populations before installation, and we will do this again next season. We will monitor this device and report back! It was wonderful to work with both the NBWTF and Ducks Unlimited.

End of Season Fishing Report

by Brad Burns

Fishing friends: Another salmon fishing season on the Miramichi River system has ended. I’ve been home for a week, but I still miss the river every day.  I’ve reviewed my daily fishing calendar, opened up the historic water level data and weather data websites, and reconstructed the day-to-day fishing and conditions that we experienced. There is a lot more to cover though: the smallmouth bass debacle, the future of stock enhancement on the Miramichi, the end of the year trap numbers that will ultimately measure the Miramichi salmon run, the striped bass situation, and what we know about smolt and parr production in the river are all important points of discussion, and as more information emerges those topics will be the subject of blogs over the next few months.

Harvey Wheeler at Goose Island

Harvey Wheeler casting at Goose Island, Blackville

Full Fishing Report

MSA hosts Environmental Science class from Blackville High School

The MSA was pleased to host Ashley Hallihan's environmental science class from Blackville High School on October 17th. Ashley's class is participating in the 'Take Me Outside' program where spending time outside learning, playing and exploring is incorporated into every student's day. Take Me Outside works collaboratively with other organizations, school boards and individuals to encourage children and youth to spend more time outside through various projects and initiatives. We were happy to host Mr. Hallihan's class and teach them about the important work MSA carries out each year - including spawning adult salmon for our fry stocking program. Below are a few pictures from the day at the hatchery. 

Mr. Hallahan's class getting ready to head to the Miramichi Salmon Conservation Centre in South Esk, NB. 

Learning about spawning at the hatchery with MSA past President, Mark Hambrook. 

Mark Hambrook, extracting salmon eggs from an adult female for spawning. 

Adult broodstock preparing for spawning.

 Miramichi Salmon Association U.S.

Winter Event - Save the Date

The Miramichi Salmon Association U.S. will be hosting a Winter Event which will include in-person and zoom attendance options along with an exciting live and online auction. Exact dates of the online auction haven’t been set, but the dinner will be held the evening of February 4th 2023 at the Portland Country Club. Save the date! 

The Portland Country Club in Falmouth, Maine.

DFO's Wild Atlantic Salmon

Conservation Strategy

DFO is in the process of developing their next Wild Atlantic Salmon Conservation Strategy. The next stage is to gather feedback through a process called Let’s Talk Atlantic Salmon, and information gathered will be used to guide the strategy. If you’d like to review the survey and submit feedback, please click the link below. 

Click here for Survey

MSA Fredericton Dinner Wrap Up

The MSA would like to extend a big thank you to everyone who attended our MSA Fredericton dinner on October 5th. We had a great turn out with almost 300 people in attendance! It was great to get together again with all of our members and supporters and discuss salmon conservation, tell a few fishing stories, and do some planning for the upcoming winter season. We would like to extend our sincerest appreciation to all of our table sponsors, our live and silent auction sponsors and our raffle sponsors. Without your support, it would be impossible for the MSA to carry out the critical conservations projects and advocacy work we do. Below are a few pictures from the evening. 

MSA President, Robyn McCallum, providing an MSA update to dinner attendees

MSA past president, Bud Bird, recognizing the evening's honouree Jo- Anne Linton. 

In this photo: MSA president, Robyn McCallum, Chief of Staff and Deputy Minister, Louis Legere, MSA Chair, Joe Palmer, Past MSA Chair, Debbie Norton, Premier Higgs and his wife Marcia and Secretary to the Premier, Paul D'Astous enjoying the evening. 

MSA President, Robyn McCallum and MSA Chair, Joe Palmer present our dinner honouree, Jo-Anne Linton, with a special gift

MSA Program and Development Coordinator, Butch Dalton, with MSA US Director, Paul Valeri, enjoying the evening. 


Final Miramichi Salmon Trap Counts and Timing of the 2022 Run by Brad Burns

The final 10/31/2022 Miramichi trap numbers for both Millerton on the SWM and Cassilis on the NWM were posted to the Cumulative Counts page of the DFO website today.  Let’s look first at how those numbers compare to other years in an absolute sense and see in what direction the run in recent years seems to be trending. 

Full Report

Environmental Tech class from NBCC helps with MSA Brood stock collection

A huge thank-you to Sara Lloyd’s Environmental Tech class at NBCC for helping with our recent broodstock collection in Juniper. Students assisted MSA staff in using seine nets to collect a limited number of adult salmon for spawning at our hatchery. The adults will be released back to the water after spawning, and the resulting fry will be released next spring.

Preparing the net for seining the salmon pool to collect broodstock

Ready to seine the pool and collect some salmon for spawning

MSA biologist, Lyndsay Jay-Keating with a salmon for spawning

Upcoming MSA Events


  • MSA Saint John Dinner --- November 4th, 2022
  • MSA Board of Directors meeting - November 18th, 2022 - Freeport, Maine.
  • MSA's Carleton County Christmas Auction - launching in November 
  • MSA US Event - Portland Country Club - February 4th, 2023



Still not a member of the Miramichi Salmon Association?
Membership in the MSA is the perfect way to express your passion and support for the Miramichi River, for the Atlantic salmon who make it their home, and for the vital work being done by the MSA to protect and conserve both for today and tomorrow!

Become a member!
Receive The Leaper - Sign Up Here
Miramichi Salmon Association | 506-622-4000 | |www.miramichisalmon.ca
FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND YOUTUBE
Facebook  Twitter  Youtube