Nashwaak River
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2013) |
| Nashwaak River | |
|---|---|
Maliseet: "slow current" | |
| Location | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | New Brunswick |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Length | 113 kilometres (70 mi) |
| Basin features | |
| River system | Saint John River |
The Nashwaak River, located in west-central
The river's name comes from the
Today, the river is popular for canoeing and salmon fishing, and tubing.
Ecological issues
Salmon
Aquaculture practices from upstream in the Saint John river have caused a dramatic drop in the salmon population of the Nashwaak river. In the past, the river was known for its abundance of salmon but in recent years this number has decreased due to farming in various locations along the Saint John and in the Bay of Fundy. Fish raised in these hatcheries do not tend to migrate along their natural predecessors' routes up the Nashwaak as they once did due to the removal of a biological memory system developed over the ages to ensure their survival and propagation. Modern dams and netting practices prevent the fish from returning to previously established spawning routes. Over time this practice has altered the memory of the species and therefore diminished the number previously documented in the Naswaak river system.
This process has been documented as being problematic in other locations around the world; as Ellen Wohl points out, "Similar attempts either to provide fish passage around a dam or to breed fish in a hatchery have been disimal failures for salmon and other species in the United States."[1]
References
- ISBN 978-0226904788.
See also
45°57′56.5″N 66°35′10.3″W / 45.965694°N 66.586194°W
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