Backgrounder
Located in New Brunswick on Canada's Atlantic Coast, Fundy National Park encompasses 20 kilometres of dramatic shoreline along the Bay of Fundy, famous for having the world's highest tides. Twice a day, up to 12 metres of water or more rush in and out, roughly equivalent to the height of a three story building. For visitors, this means exceptional sightseeing and unforgettable kayaking, not to mention a unique chance to explore the sea floor at low tide. More than 100 kilometres of hiking and biking trails ribbon through 206 square kilometres of Acadian forest, leading to thundering waterfalls, freshwater lakes, and scenic river valleys.
2019 Conservation and Restoration Funding
Project name: Atlantic Salmon Recovery: Evaluating and adapting proven methods in endangered salmon restoration for broad-scale benefits
Estimated total: $1.8M
Project description: The collaborative Fundy Salmon Recovery model was established through Conservation and Restoration funding in 2014 and has produced encouraging results. Last year saw a 29-year high in natural salmon returns to the Upper Salmon River in Fundy National Park, higher than any other monitored salmon river in the inner Bay of Fundy.
This new project will support Fundy National Park's continued participation in Fundy Salmon Recovery to improve the ecological integrity and abundance of wild, endangered Atlantic salmon. Fundy National Park will continue to work closely with all collaborators of the Fundy Salmon Recovery team including Indigenous, academic, stakeholders and government partners to restore inner Bay of Fundy Atlantic salmon on the Upper Salmon River in Fundy National Park. Starting in 2020, this recovery model will also be implemented on the Point Wolfe River in Fundy National Park. If similar restoration can be accomplished there, then the productivity of both endangered salmon rivers in Fundy National Park will be restored to a level unseen in decades.
Regionally, four Atlantic national parks have undertaken a collaborative five-year study to conserve Atlantic salmon. Each national park is home to a unique species of Atlantic salmon which all have a different population abundance. Scientists at Fundy, Cape Breton Highlands, Gros Morne, and Kouchibouguac National Parks will study the impacts of conservation measures across a range of different populations at each site simultaneously. By collaborating on conservation methods and ecological monitoring techniques at each site, this work will help inform decisions to protect Atlantic salmon populations into the future.
2014 Conservation and Restoration Project Completion
Project name: Fundy Salmon Recovery: Recovery of the King of Fish in Fundy National Park
Project description: In 2014, the Government of Canada announced funding over five years for a previously piloted, innovative salmon recovery model through Parks Canada's Conservation and Restoration program. This funding allowed for the formation of the current Fundy Salmon Recovery collaborative team.
The inner Bay of Fundy population of Atlantic salmon was listed as endangered under the Species at Risk Act in 2003. In an effort to save this declining population, some of the last remaining wild salmon of Fundy National Park were collected for "live gene banking". This process protected the unique genetic lineage of this salmon population which otherwise would have been lost.
The innovative collaboration of the Fundy Salmon Recovery group is working to change the fate of Atlantic salmon in the inner Bay of Fundy and has become a model in conservation efforts around the world. The collaborating partners in Fundy Salmon Recovery include Parks Canada, Cooke Aquaculture, Atlantic Canada Fish Farmers Association, Fort Folly First Nation, the Province of New Brunswick, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the University of New Brunswick, the Atlantic Salmon Law Enforcement Coalition and the Village of Grand Manan.
Fundy Salmon Recovery is the first project in the world to collect young fish after they have spent their critical early life stages in the wild; then care for them in an ocean environment at a marine farm site. The site is custom designed for wild Atlantic salmon - the first of its kind in the world. Using their collective expertise and resources, this team has successfully released thousands of wild mature adult salmon into river systems that have achieved ground-breaking returns. Through these efforts, record numbers of salmon, unseen in over 29 years, were found returning to the Upper Salmon River this year.
Federal Infrastructure Investment Funding
Project Name: Compound Maintenance, Trades & Storage Facility
Estimated Total: $4.8M
Project description: To improve operations and reduce the Park's ecological and carbon footprint, the 13 existing stand-alone facilities in the Compound area of the park, which were aging and deteriorating, will be replaced with one energy-efficient facility. This new facility will house the vehicle maintenance garage, carpentry shop, paint/sign shop, storage space, janitorial service building and others. The building of one large facility creates a seamless delivery of service and increased capacity for tradespeople to properly maintain and repair visitor facilities in the park, in a timely manner. This efficiency in the park operations will contribute to strengthening visitor satisfaction and ensuring high-quality experiences. .
