More salmon returning to Canadian rivers
"What a difference a year can make", writes Clayton Hunt in The Coaster; While salmon rivers everywhere in the world saw all time lows in salmon returns in 2007, the opposite is true in 2008, as rivers are seeing increased salmon returns. "Salmon returns are really up in 2008 and they're up on all the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) monitored rivers in Newfoundland and Labrador with some rivers showing an amazing increase in the number of returning salmon," said Don Ivany, the regional director for Newfoundland and Labrador for the Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF). "Up to Aug. 10, 2008, for example, the Exploits River, which is on pace for a record year, had a return of 33,591 salmon. The average return on this river from 2003 to 2007 was 26,229 salmon. The average return on the river from 1984 to 1991 was 9,552 fish." According to Mr. Ivany, other DFO monitored rivers saw an increase in salmon returns up to Aug. 10, 2008. Campbellton River, near Lewisporte, had a return of 4,375, which is up from a five-year average of 2,846 from 2003 to 2007. Middle Brook had a return of 2,056, up from a five-year average of 1,222. Salmon Brook, a tributary of the Gander River, saw 1,441 salmon return by Aug. 10, up from an average of 773 over the last five years. "Based on the numbers returning to Salmon Brook, it's probably safe to say that the entire Gander River saw a similar increase in the number of salmon returns for 2008," Mr. Ivany said. "As a matter of fact, DFO has a formula where they extrapolate the number of salmon in the entire river based on what happens at Salmon Brook, but they have not released this number for 2008 as of today, Aug. 19." The number of salmon returning to Conne River was also up as compared to the average number from 2003 to 2007. Up to Aug. 10, 2,885 salmon had returned to Conne River this year. The average return from 2003 to 2007 was 2,352.
