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The Department of Fisheries and Oceans says the decision to close biodiversity facilities in Mactaquac, N.B., and Coldbrook, N.S., came down to a poor return on investment.
Inner Bay of Fundy Atlantic salmon is a population on the brink of extinction, with fewer than 110 wild salmon returning to rivers annually.
For 25 years, DFO has run live gene banks in the two facilities, conserving and tracking genetic diversity. It also operates a hatchery and releases fish into the water.
But it all ends this fall.
Kent Smedbol, a DFO manager who used to oversee the facilities, said the $2.3-million annual cost of the facilities had to be reconsidered because the fish return rate averages less than one in 300.
“There’s no evidence of recovery,” he said. “So, one might want to ask: is this then the best use of public resources?”
He said the latest federal budget introduced broader cuts to the whole government, and DFO is following along.
The announcement of the closures was followed by outcry from some environmentalists and Mi’kmaq, who argue the decision could eradicate the species.
Marc Blanchard, national vice-president of the Union of Health and Environment Workers, which represents 13 facility technicians, said his members are upset by the decision, noting most of the workers will lose their jobs.
“Up until very recently, there had been talk of investment in those [two] facilities,” he said. “So, I think this really came as a shock to everyone,” he said.
In 2019, DFO released an action plan for the population, which stated that “populations are currently maintained through a Live Gene Bank (LGB) program.”
It recommended continuing the program “while efforts are made to identify and remedy the causes of low marine survival or until alternative strategies can be identified, evaluated and supported.”
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DFO released approximately 1.6 million fry, 15,000 smolt and 2,600 adult salmon from the Coldbrook and Mactaquac biodiversity facilities each year.
Still, very few returned to the rivers from the ocean, and almost all that did came from the hatcheries.
To Smedbol, this shows the programs were simply not working in recover the population.
“This was all meant to be done on an interim basis while we waited for really poor marine mortality to improve,” he said.
But to workers, the hatcheries and live gene banks are a necessity to preserve the species, according to Blanchard.
“The staff there felt like they were making a difference with regards to this species,” he said. “Anything you could do to protect an endangered species is a worthwhile endeavour.”
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The final cohort of juvenile Atlantic salmon will be released from both hatcheries into the inner Bay of Fundy rivers this spring, and the adults will follow in the fall.
A DFO spokesperson says Atlantic salmon remains a priority, noting the $81.7-million investment over five years for the species as a whole as part of the federal government’s Strategy to Protect Nature.
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