N.S. government grant will help keep Atlantic salmon cool in Cheticamp River

People who want to protect the Atlantic salmon populations in Cape Breton say a small grant from the Nova Scotia government will have a big impact on their efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change in a local waterway.

The Cheticamp River Salmon Association recently received $75,000 under the Sustainable Communities Challenge Fund to help build deflectors, which are piles of rock that narrow the river channel and make the water deeper.

Association president Rene Aucoin said the river has been getting wider and shallower, and heat from the sun is not good for salmon.

He said more deflectors are needed to help provide cool-water refuges for the fish.

"We put in 76 of those in previous years, but we've put in another four this year," he said Monday. "It's very expensive, because it's machinery made, so a lot of planning went into that and we have to get the proper approvals from Parks Canada. A couple, three or four dayswas $20,000."

'It takes a lot of work'

Aucoin saidAtlantic salmon are struggling in most rivers on the East Coast, but efforts to protect the fish in Cape Breton are paying off in the Cheticamp, Margaree, Middle and North rivers.

"The rivers are doing really well, but I think it takes a lot of work," he said. "If we want to maintain this for generations in the future, we have to work at it now and not wait till we see the problem."

Allan MacMaster, theMLA for Inverness and provincial finance minister,announced the grant on behalf of Environment and Climate Change Minister Tim Halman,saying it's important to look after the natural environment.

"The work that the group is doing is to help them keep deep pools ... so when there's hot days, [the salmon] can stay hidden in the deep pools where it's cool, where the climate is better for them," MacMaster said.

The provincial government recently doubled the Sustainable Communities Challenge Fund by adding $15 million.

A new round of funding applications opened up this week under the fund, which is administered by the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities.

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