Protecting the salmon… or protecting the illusion?

On April 25, 2026, a few weeks before the opening of salmon fishing in Quebec, one reality is clear: we are moving forward blindly.

After two of the worst fish runs ever recorded, no structural measures have been announced. No emergency plan, no major adaptations, no clear signal that the exceptional situation our rivers are experiencing is truly understood in its full gravity.

The data, however, is undeniable. In 2024 and 2025, 11 Quebec rivers recorded average runs of fewer than 100 salmon , including 7 with fewer than 50 individuals . These figures do not describe a temporary decline. They illustrate a localized, but very real, collapse.

Despite this, the current response is essentially limited to catch and release. A relevant measure, certainly, but largely insufficient in a context where every fish counts. No comprehensive strategy exists to regulate this practice or limit its impacts. Even more worrying, several known and documented levers remain unused. There is still no official closure protocol based on water temperature, even though the 21°C threshold is recognized as critical for Atlantic salmon . The protection of thermal refuges, these areas essential for summer survival, is still not being systematically addressed. As for rivers in critical condition, no specific measures appear to be planned to adapt or suspend fishing pressure.

In this context, a fundamental question becomes difficult to avoid: what are we trying to maintain? The resource itself, or the activity that depends on it? Because at this level of fragility, there is no longer any margin for error. Every handling, every fight, every release becomes an additional source of stress for fish already at the limit of their physiological capacity.

Best practices should therefore be established as minimum standards, not recommendations. Keeping salmon in the water at all times, prohibiting unnecessary handling, and the widespread use of single barbless hooks should be non-negotiable. Similarly, automatic closures based on environmental conditions should be integrated into management, rather than left to the discretion of the moment.

The situation of rivers with fewer than 100 salmon also deserves careful consideration. At this level, the focus is no longer on optimizing an activity, but on preserving a population. When the salmon run drops below 50 individuals, the very rationale for maintaining a fishing season should be questioned.

It would be too simplistic to point the finger at fishermen. That's not the case. However, in a context of reduced abundance, the individual impact of each intervention becomes significant. This change of scale necessitates an adaptation of behaviors, but above all, of upstream decisions.

What is striking today is not only the lack of strong measures, but the repetition of a reactive management model. Communications follow one another, reports pile up, but structural actions are slow to materialize. Meanwhile, the biological indicators continue to deteriorate.

Atlantic salmon doesn't lack visibility. It lacks decisions.

The question now is simple: are we ready to adjust our practices to protect the resource, or will we continue to maintain the status quo until some rivers are nothing but memories?

No one blames the fishermen. But we must be realistic: in a context of abundance, the individual impact is diluted. In a context of collapse, it is amplified.

What is shocking today is not just the inaction.

It is this persistent impression that:

👉 We're waiting for the situation to resolve itself

👉 We are managing in the short term to maintain business activity

👉 We recycle the same speeches, year after year

Enough with the podcasts.

Enough with the pointless updates.

Enough with the copy-pasting.

Atlantic salmon don't need communication. They need decisions .

Difficult decisions.

Unpopular decisions.

But necessary decisions.

Because ultimately, the real question is no longer scientific. It's moral. Are we ready to slow down today...so as not to lose tomorrow? Or are we going to keep opening seasons...while everything collapses?