Volunteer profile – Denis Losier

Meet Denis Losier, a member of the ASCF board of directors.

Losier is currently enjoying retirement; he was involved in politics for eights years, then he ran Assumption Life for 19 years. Before that he was with the federal government and was posted in Paris at the Canadian Embassy.

He said his interest in salmon fishing started when he was in politics.

“I used to host people at the government lodge on the Restigouche,” he said. “But I never got really into it then because I had to entertain more than fish. But after I left I decided that I would do much more fishing than hosting.”

Losier became a board member not long after the creation of the ASCF.

“In conservation, looking at what was happening in terms of numbers of fish coming up the different rivers, I thought the foundation was a good way to help with the money that they had to promote conservation and help fund some of the projects that could help rehabilitate and clean up some of the rivers, and at the same time educate people how important some of these rivers are for the environment.”

Losier said he’s seen the ASCF make a difference over the years.

“In the number of projects, the number of communities involved, the number of partners we now have; we don’t have to be the sole funder of these projects. We’re always looking for partners. It’s really interesting now that we have a little more money to disperse we’re finding more and more partners all over the place. Some of the rivers that were counted as dead are now being considered for some of the projects because there is still some potential to increase the number of fish. It’s interesting to see the enthusiasm of the all the volunteers involved in the different communities and different projects; it’s quite exciting.”