P.E.I. salmon get new protectors

A coalition of government and private interests has come together on P.E.I. to protect Atlantic salmon.

The co-operative effort involves the Atlantic Salmon Federation, the provincial Department of Environment, the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, local watershed management groups and landowners on the Island. It's led by retired UPEI biology professor Daryl Guignion.

"We have already started to do a complete inventory of the streams and rivers on Prince Edward Island, to determine the status of Atlantic Salmon, and also what we can do to stop the current decline in population numbers, and also the loss of salmon in some of the rivers that has been occurring," Guignion told CBC News on Friday.

The first stage of the project, to develop a management strategy, has received $44,000 from an endowment fund set up by the federal government.

Guignion said the biggest threats to salmon on P.E.I. are sediment and runoff coming from farmers fields and highways, and rivers blocked by bridges and culverts that prevent salmon from moving upstream.