THE ROMAINE RIVER, Wild Atlantic Salmon, and the Proposed Hydro Development Project

A Backgrounder from

ATLANTIC SALMON FEDERATION

Contact info

savesalmon@asf.ca
Tel: (506) 529–4581
www.asf.ca

Link to article

http://asf.ca/docs/uploads/romaine-backgrounder.pdf

THE ROMAINE RIVER, Wild Atlantic Salmon, and the Proposed Hydro Development Project

The Big Picture

• The Romaine River is approximately 300km long, draining 14,500 km2, in Quebec’s North Shore region near the Labrador border.

• Atlantic salmon only use the lowermost 50km. Impassable falls block potential habitat upstream. Salmon also utilize a portion of the Puyjalon River, a tributary of this lowermost part of the Romaine River

• Atlantic salmon habitat in the Romaine River is very limited compared to rivers such as the Moisie, and this habitat could be disrupted by project-induced changes in flows and/or fine sediments in this section of the river, where the current is relatively slow.

• Atlantic salmon populations are uniquely adapted to conditions in a particular river and along a particular migration route, which means the Romaine’s salmon are adapted to the present Romaine river conditions, before any hydro development. Changes to the river could negatively affect these salmon populations.

• Atlantic salmon numbers are now depressed in the Romaine River due to unknown factors both at sea and potentially in the river.

• While Quebec has thousands of rivers, only 118 have Atlantic salmon populations, and they are a key part of the province’s natural and cultural heritage. With the Romaine River salmon already being impacted by unknown factors, the proposed hydro project raises special concerns.

• There is a need for major baseline studies of conditions in the Romaine River for determining the impact of the project.

Potential Impacts on Salmon from Operation of the Romaine Hydro Project

• Temperature changes (due to water being held in reservoirs and released from cold, 4°C, sections all year long) could impact Atlantic salmon growth and modify the species and abundance of plants and animals living in this river system.

• Changes in temperature and food could alter the times when the river’s Atlantic salmon smolt go to sea. With colder temperatures, they might enter the ocean too late - when necessary food sources are not available, and schooling with other populations is not possible.

• Release of water from the lowermost dam will fluctuate in ways entirely different from those in the natural river. The need to spill high volumes at times, and requirements to hold water at others, is likely to alter areas of gravel needed for spawning beds, leave silt behind, and could destroy the river’s already limited essential spawning areas.

• Spring snowmelt has been an important part of the Romaine’s yearly cycle for millennia. But with dams in place, the combination of flow and temperature will be forever altered, impacting the lower river in unknown ways.

• All of these new problems could act together to reinforce each other and send the Romaine River’s Atlantic salmon into further decline.

Initial filling of the Romaine River’s reservoir behind the dams could have an extremely adverse effect.

• Depending on precipitation, it is likely that during the Romaine River’s reservoir filling period, flow in the salmon portion of the Romaine River could be reduced to nearly nothing.

• The salmon-inhabited part of the Romaine will need to rely on water from lower tributaries during the reservoir creation period, which can change cues being used by returning Atlantic salmon.

• A credible mitigation strategy for this potential impact is not yet available.

Secondary impacts from the proposed hydro scheme will result from the opening of the area to increased human activity.

• Presently, net fishing by natives and rod angling by salmon fishermen occur.

• Improved access will increase fishing activity, heightening the need for enforcement and closer attention to management, both requiring increased financial support.

• Changes in flows and levels on the lower Romaine may raise salmon harvest rates, further depressing the Atlantic salmon population.

Jocelin & Sonie