Further Assessment of the Salmon Cove River Watershed

The Salmon Cove River watershed in Conception Bay has been surveyed in the past by both federal government (DFO) and industry (Vale NL) for potential habitat degradation and enhancement opportunities.  Vale NL enhanced a barrier to anadromous migration to the upper portions of the river and enhanced three reaches for spawning. The results were beneficial to Atlantic salmon with large increases in juvenile salmon production.  Since the completion of these enhancements and monitoring in 2018, there were reported fish kills in the lower portion of the river (Forest Pond area) and residents and anglers are concerned about water quality and temperatures.

In 2024, with the aid of funding from the Foundation, SAEN began additional monitoring within the lower reaches of the watershed to investigate any potential habitat issues or barriers to migration, with an ultimate goal of working towards establishing a watershed management plan for the system.

For 2025, SAEN will collect additional information in regard to water temperatures, water quality and fish presence in those lower sections but also expand that work into the upper, less accessible portions of the river system in an effort to gain a more complete picture of what is happening.  In addition, SAEN will consult with DFO and seek to develop plans to potentially address issues within the watershed that were documented in 2024.  Through the use of drone video, SAEN hopes to be able to collect additional information on the upper areas of the watershed that are less accessible but are known to be areas that salmon utilize for spawning later in the season.  Additional fish tissue samples will also be collected to add to DFO’s baseline information and comparison for similarity to other regions.