Atlantic salmon are suffocating while the industry is still being protected
- Jocelyn LeBlanc
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
The Radio-Canada Bas-Saint-Laurent article highlights a problem that many still refuse to acknowledge: Quebec's salmon rivers are now reaching temperatures that are dangerous for salmon survival, to the point where temporary fishing bans are necessary. These rivers regularly exceed critical thresholds during heat waves.
The real problem is that we are still acting as if these temperatures were exceptional… when they risk becoming the new normal.
While we're still debating whether sport fishing "has an impact" or not, the salmon are taking the brunt of it:
waters at 24, 25, sometimes close to 30 °C;
additional battles;
often inadequate manipulations;
enormous stress on populations that are already historically weak.
When a river falls below 100 salmon… or worse, below 50… every spawning fish counts. Absolutely every living fish becomes precious to ensure a minimum spawning rate and prevent the complete collapse of the river.
What's troubling is that, despite being the Director General of the FQSA, Ms. Bergeron often speaks of long-term solutions: reforestation, shoreline restoration, marine research, climate change, survival in Greenland… But while we wait for these solutions, which will take years, why are we still hesitating to immediately implement all available tools to reduce mortality? Heat protocols. Limited fishing in the morning. Strict catch and release. Crushed barbs. Reduced fights, etc.
We can no longer claim that we “lack data” or that we “don’t really know what’s going on” when there is now a vast network of thermographs deployed in salmon rivers, including several on the North Shore. The FQSA itself participated in the deployment of numerous thermographs and acknowledges having a significant amount of continuous temperature data on salmon rivers.
This data exists. It is measured. It is recorded. And it clearly shows that several rivers are reaching critical temperatures for salmon.
The Quebec government itself recognizes that beyond certain thresholds — particularly around 22°C — physiological stress increases sharply and the survival of salmon released back into the water decreases.
So when we see rivers on the North Shore reaching 24, 25, sometimes even close to 30 °C in certain areas, we are no longer talking about a simple “discomfort” for the salmon.
We are talking about:
from a lack of oxygen;
of major thermal stress;
of an increased risk of mortality after release back into the water;
and a direct impact on populations already in freefall.
The hardest thing for many fishermen to understand is that we now have the tools to act:
thermographs;
real-time data;
identified thermal shelters;
heat protocols;
scientific studies;
temperature history.
But despite this, there is still hesitation to implement strong measures on several rivers.
And while we debate… the salmon continues to disappear.
The argument that the majority of Quebec's salmon rivers are still "relatively spared" by the heat is becoming increasingly difficult to defend when looking at the actual data on the ground.
The Trinité River — a reference river on the North Shore monitored since 1984 with a fish pass and counting system — has already reached up to 29.5 °C in the evening.
We're talking about an Atlantic salmon river here. Not a shallow pond in the middle of a drought.
And the Trinity is not alone.
The Moisie, the Godbout, the Pentecôte, the Escoumins and several other rivers also record temperatures of 24, 25 °C and more during the summer.
At these temperatures, salmon do not “adapt”. They survive as best they can.
It often stops migrating. It concentrates in the few thermal refuges. Its stress level skyrockets. Available oxygen decreases. The risk of mortality increases. And each additional handling becomes a real risk.
Meanwhile, we are still being told that we must be careful before closing rivers because fishermen serve as “guardians of the territory”, because the organizations are economically fragile, because we must protect the industry.
But one fundamental thing must eventually be understood:
Without salmon, there will be nothing left to manage.
More industry.
More outfitters.
No more ZECs.
No more salmon tourism.
No more replacements.
More folklore.
Just empty rivers and memories.
Yes, protecting riparian buffer zones and replanting trees is essential. Yes, protecting thermal refuges is indispensable. But these are solutions that will take years, sometimes decades, to have a real effect.
Salmon, however, are currently experiencing a crisis. So refusing or delaying heat protocols under the pretext that "some rivers are still okay" is playing with an already extremely fragile resource.
The data is there.
The temperatures are here.
The warning signs are there.
The real question is simple: How many rivers will have to reach 25, 27 or 29 °C before we finally stop treating this crisis as a problem of the future?
Because at the rate things are going, the question is no longer: "Can we still fish for salmon?" The real question becomes: "Do we even want any left?"
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