A Legacy of Restoration in Antigonish

In 1992, long before the current association was formed, restoration began in the Brierly Brook as a pilot project for the Government of Canada and the Nova Scotia Recreational Fisheries Planning Agreement. From 1994-95, further restoration sites were completed in Brierly Brook as a result of the collaboration between the Dept. of Fisheries and Oceans and St. Francis Xavier University. Monitoring data was collected from the Brierly Brook Pilot Project sites from 1992-2000 to quantify the effectiveness of restoration techniques strategically installed into the riverbed. Monitoring data included water temperature, acidity levels, fish species surveys, and redd count surveys (counting the number of salmon nests in the streambed). Based on the monitoring results, installation of a variety of restoration structures showed to have a significant improvement of fish movement up and down Brierly Brook with a major increase of Atlantic Salmon spawning throughout the whole Brierly Brook system.

Habitat Unlimited, a local stewardship group that is no longer active in the area, completed extensive restoration work on the James River and Brierly Brook between 1994 and 2004 which paved the way for stream restoration in Nova Scotia. The monitoring data collected during that time had proven the results of the instream restoration work could restore habitat and increase salmon populations. The Antigonish Rivers Association still maintains habitat restoration structures that Habitat Unlimited installed 30 years ago.

Since 2013 the Antigonish Rivers Association has been an active watershed stewardship group, completing restoration projects in the 3 major watersheds, addressing critical issues such as bank erosion, over widened and incised channels, and the loss of biodiversity. Guided by technical support from the Nova Scotia Salmon Association’s Adopt a Stream program, ARA has completed dozens of restoration projects using well established habitat restoration techniques.

Projects

By clicking on any of the items below, all project details can be viewed.

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Community Connection Projects

Cameron Lake Barrier-Free Site In 2013, the ARA decided to approach the Province of Nova Scotia regarding a plot of Crown land adjacent to Cameron Lake in Pinevale, Antigonish County, that was not being utilized. The idea was to develop the site to include a boat launch and easy access fishing site for the community as Cameron Lake has historically been a popular family fishing site and is stocked regularly by the Fraser's Mills Fish Hatchery. The Province agreed and the ARA acquired appropriate funding to complete the project. [...]

2024-03-20T23:37:39-03:00

West River Watershed

The West River Antigonish is world renowned for its fall salmon fishing. If the weather conditions cooperate there can be no better place in Nova Scotia to angle Atlantic salmon than the West River. The West River watershed contains a number of important and highly productive tributaries such as Beaver River, Ohio River, James River and Brierly Brook to name a few. ARA has completed instream restoration projects throughout the West River using rock deflectors and bank stabilization techniques. On the tributaries the most common restoration technique has been [...]

2024-03-25T09:57:36-03:00

South River Watershed

The South River watershed, in it's entirety, encompasses approximately 190 meters squared. The watershed has been significantly altered from agricultural , forestry and milling activities that span from current day back to early European settlement in the area. One of the major impacts from human activities through the decades is the loss of riparian (stream bank) vegetation. The riparian zone is a critical component of the aquatic ecosystem and without a sufficient amount of trees, shrubs, and grasses taking root in the river banks and flood plains, results show [...]

2024-02-23T14:00:00-04:00

Pomquet River Watershed

The Pomquet River is a productive trout and salmon river, but it has been highly impacted by agriculture, forestry and historical land clearing. As a result of these impacts much of the spawning habitat throughout the watershed has been marginalized. ARA has successfully partnered with several landowners within the Pomquet watershed, establishing buffer zones in agricultural areas and installing digger logs. For the purpose of restorative watershed management planning the Pomquet River watershed has been divided into four main tributaries: Black Avon River, Campbell’s Brook, East Branch Pomquet and [...]

View Restoration Map

View Our Restoration Projects On A Map

The full scope of our project work can be seen across the county of Antigonish.
NOTE: This map was produced by the Nova Scotia Salmon Association
View Restoration Map

We Accept Donations.

The ARA is a non-profit organization but does not have charitable status. Anyone interested in donating money to the organization that wishes to receive a tax receipt can make a donation on the NSSA web site. Please indicate that you would like the money to be used for work by the ARA.

Fishing Regulation and Season Information.

One of the key roles of our organization is education. To help your quickly connect with the most essential information we have prepared a page with all the most critical links on regulations and seasons.