prepared by
Brian Hoffe and Michael Tubrett
North Arm River Restoration Committee
Town of Holyrood
P.O. Box 100
Holyrood, Newfoundland
A0A 2R0
The North Arm River is one of only three scheduled Atlantic salmon rivers located in Conception Bay, its mouth being situated in the North Arm of the smaller Holyrood Bay. The North Arm River has an axial length of 17.37 kilometres and its drainage basin occupies an area of 85.98 square kilometres. Its drainage pattern is probably best described as parallel to dendritic and the stream channel varies in width from less than 10 metres to greater than 30 metres over its length. Water depth can vary from a few tens of centimetres to more than 2 metres in some of the deeper pools and steadies.
Being situated in the early inhabited and now heavily populated Conception Bay, the North Arm River's salmon stock has been probably been subjected to greater exploitation than most other rivers of the province. Excessive harvesting from the commercial salmon fishery as well as heavy inshore netting by the myriad of cod and capelin traps, mackerel and herring nets and other multi-species traps within Conception Bay has been detrimental to the North Arm stock.
This is substantiated by the commercial catch data from 1974 to 1991 for Salmon Fishing Area 7 which encompasses all of Conception Bay. These data clearly show an alarming decline in total landings over this 17 year period. It is assumed that, of this total catch, some small percentage would have been adult fish spawned from the North Arm River. Thus the commercial catch data may be a gross indicator of the North Arm stock and, if this is the case, it demonstrates that this stock is in crisis. Fortunately, with the recent moratoriums imposed on both the commercial salmon and cod fisheries, it is hoped that the river's salmon population will stabilize and numbers of returning adults will increase in future years.
The angling statistics for the North Arm River from 1973 to 1992 can further illustrate the poor state of river's salmon stock. Although there is a high degree of variability in the Catch Per Unit Effort or C.P.U.E., a linear regression of this data shows a clear and steady decline in catches on the North Arm River. If the declines seen in both the C.P.U.E. and commercial catch data are not reversed or stabilized, it is conceivable that this salmon stock could tragically disappear from the river forever.
Another serious and pressing problem faced by the North Arm River salmon stock is inland poaching. Although not unique to this river, this despicable practice has also taken its toll on the North Arm stock. Local residents recall when the river supported much healthier runs of salmon during the 1940s and 1950s but, unfortunately, they also sadly remember the vile actions of poachers. It was not unusual for a single poacher using a net to catch in excess of a hundred fish during the course of the summer. At a price of thirty-five cents per pound, this was a lucrative summer income during the 1940s. Not surprisingly, the days of abundant salmon are now only a distant memory for the many residents of Holyrood.
A further problem unique to the North Arm River was the substantial loss of spawning and rearing habitat due to the improper placement of culverts. The only major tributary of the North Arm system is Daniels Brook which drains Little Triangle Pond and provides access to an estimated 50% of the watershed south of the Trans-Canada Highway (T.C.H.) via Big Triangle Pond. Culverts installed in this portion of the waterway during the initial construction of the highway in 1961 created a velocity barrier preventing further upstream movement to migrating anadromous fish. As a result, a major portion of the North Arm's watershed was made inaccessible to adult fish returning to the river to spawn. This situation remained until 1991 when upgrading and reconstruction of the T.C.H. replaced these culverts with ones which would allow upstream migration of adult fish to the head waters of the North Arm river system. Thus for a thirty year period, this habitat of the North Arm watershed was essentially removed from production and must have had an adverse effect on the health of the North Arm salmon stock.
Given the seriousness of the information indicated by the commercial catch data, angling statistics and local knowledge, the Town of Holyrood, in the early months of 1993, appointed a committee of council to institute an action plan to save the salmon of this local river. The North Arm River Restoration Committee, which consists of concerned citizens and salmon anglers, formulated and subsequently submitted a proposal to the Canada/Newfoundland Cooperation Agreement for Salmonid Enhancement and Conservation (C.A.S.E.C.). This proposal requested funding under the stock assessment and cooperative enforcement programs of this federal/provincial cooperation agreement and was eventually successful in receiving approximately $20,000 to carry out a stock assessment of the North Arm River's salmonid stocks.
An important outcome of the 1993 assessment work was the calculation of the salmon production potential of the watershed as a whole as determined from stream surveying. Using the stream survey data in association with smolt production numbers currently in use by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the North Arm system was shown to be able to produce a minimum of 8,582 smolt. If a sea survival rate of 5% to 10% is used, the North Arm system should have an annual adult production of 429 to 858 fish respectively. Given there were only 30 grilse enumerated during the 1993 season, the river's enhancement potential is in excess of 800 fish.
The successful completion of the 1993 stock assessment provided sound knowledge that the river's production potential was far from being realized. As such, the Committee formulated and submitted a proposal to C.A.S.E.C.'s salmon enhancement program as a logical continuation of the work that was started in 1993. This proposal was successful in receiving approximately $27,000 to initiate a salmon enhancement project for the North Arm River during the 1994 season.
SCOPE
Two essential components of any salmon enhancement project are: (1) the acquisition of "brood" fish in order to collect eggs and milt required for artificial fertilization and (2) the subsequent artificial incubation of these fertilized eggs in an appropriate type incubator. By fertilizing and incubating eggs in this way, the survival rate from egg to the fry stage can be greatly increased as compared to that occurring in the natural environment.
The collection of the brood fish involved trapping them in the upstream counting fence that was utilized during the 1993 assessment work. However, instead of holding the fish captive in a stream-side holding pen or raceway, the fish were immediately transported to a secure holding facility constructed at a vacant fish processing plant. The holding facility consists of a 3 metre diameter 1.5 metre deep fibreglass tank equipped with a suitable pump and filter which supplied recirculated water and a flow-through of new water. The brood fish were held in this facility from early September to mid-November until they were "ripe" for the stripping of eggs and milt.
As the fish ripened in early to mid-November, stripping of eggs and milt commenced. Milt was added to the eggs and then this mixture was gently and thoroughly mixed to ensure maximum fertilization. The eggs were then washed and allowed to water-harden for a number of hours before being transported to the incubator. The incubation facility consists of a fibreglass trough-type incubator fitted with a pump, filters, chiller and ultraviolet sterilizer which recirculates clean and temperature-controlled river water through the trough containing the eggs. These eggs will hatch in spring of 1995 and these newly hatched salmon, referred to as alevin, will be held in the incubator until the river water is warm enough for their dispersement throughout the watershed. This process will be continued over the next few years until there is sufficient numbers of adult salmon to sustain the river's population through natural reproduction.
In addition to the enhancement work initiated during 1994, the project also continued with stock assessment activities started in 1993. Since the "upstream" counting fence was used to collect brood fish, it was also operated throughout the season to again enumerate numbers of both anadromous and resident species traversing the lower reaches of the North Arm River. Such a count would be helpful in determining whether numbers had increased from the previous year. As was done in 1993, water temperature, air temperature and water level were recorded on a daily basis at the fence location. Further stream surveying was carried out in the upper-most reaches of the North Arm River's watershed in areas that were not reached during the 1993 survey work. Information collected by these further surveys would be beneficial in providing a better estimate of the salmon production potential of the North Arm watershed.
RATIONALE
The goal of this project is to restore the North Arm River Atlantic salmon stock to historical levels with the purpose of developing a sustainable recreational fishery in the Holyrood area. If this long term goal could be achieved, the Town of Holyrood would benefit significantly.
By far the highest number of visitors to Holyrood are St. John's residents owning summer cottages in the area or those on day trips to take in the scenic attractions and involve themselves in various outdoors activities. Thus the large number of tourists created by the Town's proximity to the greater St. John's area as well as the estimated 1,664 cottages in and around the Holyrood area represents a substantial income potential for local businesses. The Town of Holyrood's five year economic development study indicated that approximately 50% of St. John's residents take fishing trips between the months of May and August. This study also indicated that 33% of all St. John's residents taking in-province vacations ranked fishing as being a primary vacation activity. With the St. John's region being the largest tourism market for Holyrood, it would be reasonable to conclude that the presence of a healthy Atlantic salmon stock within the North Arm River would substantially increase visits to the area and thereby introduce new tourist dollars into the local economy.
A second and "higher-end" market that should be considered is the non-resident angler. Either visiting the greater St. John's region on business or pleasure, the avid angler would most certainly want to partake in some quality fishing, if it were available, during his or her visit. In order to accommodate this market, the angler's experience must match his or her's expectation. That is to say that there must be ample fish to catch and the angler must have a clear and definite opportunity to catch one. If these conditions are met, then an angling clientele could be developed that would again fish the river on future visits to the St. John's region.
Another important benefit would be job creation. In addition to the employment created as a direct result of this project, its success would create indirect seasonal employment associated with the tourism industry. If the river is restored and marketed properly, recreational fisherpersons would be attracted to the area and would require the necessary accommodations and services. During peak summer season, tourism-related employment opportunities would be increased and, although seasonal, it would still provide employment for those who would otherwise be unemployed. Although it is difficult to state exactly how many jobs could be created directly and indirectly by this project, one can certainly contemplate that by improving the recreational fishing opportunities within the Town, a number of new employment opportunities could be expected.
Besides the economic benefits, a healthy North Arm salmon stock would provide anglers with increased sport fishing opportunities within the densely populated eastern Avalon region. Most of the salmon rivers which are in close proximity to St. John's are heavily fished and often overcrowded during the angling season. The presence of a healthyrun of salmon in the North Arm system may help to reduce fishing pressure by attracting anglers away from these other rivers and its location on the Avalon Peninsula makes it easily accessible from St. John's via a thirty to forty minute drive westward along the T.C.H.
Finally, a salmon restoration project can provide benefits from an educational and conservational stand point, heightening the public's sense of a need for better stewardship of our natural resources. Educating the public on the benefits of conservation measures to preserve our precious, renewable resources will far exceed any benefits reaped by the recreational fishing industry.
