June Newsletter 2016

June is that time of year when all of our recipient groups are fully engaged in their conservation projects and research initiatives. As regular readers know we are supporting as many as 80 one-year and multi-year projects in 2016, so it’s a very busy year indeed

Our world class Scientific Advisory Committee is reading itself to launch the salmon modeling project, designed to focus and prioritize key issues and needs, as well as to improve cooperation and coordination among governments and others, in Canada and abroad. The goal is to better direct conservation funding in the direction that attain the optimum conservation gains. Our intention is to get this 3-year project underway in 2016. More on this later.

This month’s volunteer of the month is Denis Guitard, who is among the newer members of our New Brunswick Advisory Committee. Denis is a Fish and Wildlife Technician with the New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources based in Bathurst, NB. He’s also an active member of the Nepisiguit Salmon Association. These experiences give Denis the kind of perspective that helps our NB advisory committee make solid recommendations where best to invest conservation project funding. We are fortunate to have such talented and committed people like Denis helping the ASCF be successful.

Our featured project for June is the “Broken Brooks” project being delivered by the Petitcodiac Watershed Alliance. This is a 3-year initiative, now in its third year, and aimed at improving fish passage in the many tributaries of the Petitcodiac River in southern New Brunswick. Our experience indicates that fish passage limitations (culverts, dams, etc.) in feeder streams represents a huge, cumulative issue often labelled “the death of 1000 cuts”. That’s why we’re happy to be helping the PWA in its conservation efforts.

Yours in conservation,
Stephen Chase