Improving Connectivity and Enhancing Thermal Refuges to Support Atlantic Salmon Populations on the Morell River, PEI

In 2026, Morell River Management Cooperative (MRMC) will expand their connectivity and thermal refuge enhancement work for wild Atlantic salmon in the Morell River watershed. In addition to these main objectives, annual work, including surveys, monitoring, riparian zone restoration, stocking, and educational outreach, will be completed.

Water temperature is a significant issue on the Morell River, with summer water temperatures often remaining above 20°C up to 27°C. There has been an increase in heat waves and low water levels in recent years, limiting habitat availability for cold-water species like Atlantic salmon. During the 2025 FCAS project, MRMC successfully restored connectivity to 90 cold-water patches identified by an aerial thermal survey completed in 2024. The next step is to ground-truth the remaining cold-water patches in more remote areas and enhance selected cold-water patches to create thermal refuge areas for Atlantic salmon. These important areas may be located near deep pools or in reaches of the river where cold-water inputs are limited. This enhancement work may be done by creating a channel for spring water to enter holding pools directly, or by digging out springs to increase flow and create a greater benefit to fish holding in these thermal plumes. Tree planting along these areas will provide additional benefits by providing future shade.

Connectivity within the watershed remains an important objective in MRMC’s annual work plan. Access to cold-water patches can be blocked by beaver dams, degraded culverts or low water conditions. They will work to address these issues throughout the season by notching dams, removing barriers and targeting over-widened parts of the river to narrow the stream channel and increase depth to improve fish movement during low-water conditions.

MRMC’s annual monitoring and surveys, including runoff assessments, electrofishing index sites, redd surveys and water quality monitoring, are important for long-term conservation efforts. By adding information to their historical datasets, they can identify trends and focus their efforts in areas that need the most work.

MRMC values the PEI Fish Stock Enhancement program and will assist the Abegweit Biodiversity Enhancement Hatchery and the Province of PEI with Atlantic salmon fry releases, broodstock collection, and spawning to rebuild salmon stocks on the Morell River.

The final project objective is to increase community awareness of Atlantic salmon and the challenges they face. By spreading awareness, MRMC can help build community support and understanding of the efforts they make to restore salmon populations and protect their important habitats within the Morell River.