Veteran Fishermen Speak out for the River

Riverkeeper files sworn affidavits to Petitcodiac EIA

MONCTON - Mai 19, 2004 - Petitcodiac Riverkeeper filed sworn affidavits and submitted feedback to the Environmental Impact Assessment team this week in support of the study’s findings that the Petitcodiac causeway has decimated fish stocks in the river and that only restoring free-flow should be contemplated to resolve the problems facing the endangered river.

The six sworn affidavits filed on Monday by the Riverkeeper were from people who fished the Petitcodiac River prior to the causeway being constructed. Executive Director Daniel LeBlanc says this represents an important milestone in the long battle to save the Petitcodiac. “Even though the devastating effects of the causeway on the fish stock, on recreational fishery and on the livelihood of commercial fishermen is common knowledge in the community, this is the first time that sworn testimony has ever been submitted as evidence in any form of public process concerning the Petitcodiac.”

“The fact that real people in this community, living downstream as far away as Belliveau Village and Hopewell Cape, and upstream in the headwaters as far up as Petitcodiac and Elgin lost their livelihood and their way of life as a result of the causeway, and the fact that their loss of enjoyment or livelihood was never compensated or recognized officially by Governments, is an injustice that was never fully resolved,” says LeBlanc. “The fact that their stories are now being filed as sworn testimony is important.”

The six sport and commercial fishermen are from different communities along the river and they all testify to the dramatic decrease in the fish stock and the stark changes in the river’s ecosystem since the construction of the causeway. Copies of their sworn affidavits can be viewed on the Petitcodiac Riverkeeper website (www.petitcodiac.org).

Charlie Smith is 86 years old and grew up in Lower Coverdale. When he was in his late teens he would fish salmon in Little River and Pollet River, both tributaries of the Petitcodiac River located upstream from the causeway. He states, “In the spring of the year, we could go fishing and hook maybe 8 or 10 salmon. However, we could only keep one, as this was the law. Now, one can go up there and never see a salmon.”

Roméo Belliveau is 55 and grew up in Dieppe. He started to fish the Petitcodiac when he was about 10 years old. “I fished regularly every summer until I was 16 or 17. I caught tomcods and eels and fished mostly with a bob. Sometimes, there were 2-3 fishes on my line at the same time.”

May 17th was the deadline for input from the public in regards to the workshop on fish passage organized by in EIA study, which was held in Moncton last month. Draft recommendations on the EIA for the Petitcodiac River will be made public in the fall of 2004, and a final decision on the future of the causeway will be announced in the spring of 2005.

INFORMATION :
Daniel LeBlanc
Tel. (506) 388-5337
www.petitcodiac.org