A glimmer of hope was found last week for a nearly extinct species of fish.
Bluenose Coastal Action Foundation (BCAF) has found their first adult Atlantic whitefish since 2014.
The Petite Riviere watershed is the only place on earth where the endangered species is found.
However, there was a population in the Tusket River watershed which has since disappeared.
Scientists have attempted to restore stocks for years after it was decimated by acid rain and invasive species like chain pickerel and small mouth bass – a growing problem for many watersheds in the province.
Andrew Breen, BCAF’s Atlantic Whitefish Project Coordinator, explains where the fish was found.
“In the last few years, we’ve had a rotary screw trap, which is a piece of fishing equipment, and it’s been located just sort of down stream… from Milipsigate dam.”
Breen says the significance of the find is that there may be a spawning area nearby.
BCAF is interested in expanding the fish into other Nova Scotian watersheds in the future, if possible but because so many headwaters in the province are dammed, that could be a struggle.
“(The whitefish) has managed to hang on because of those three large lakes up in the head waters of the Petite system,” says Breen. “Any time you have the entire species living in one small area, you have problems.”
The fish they found has been put back in the lake and the find has been reported to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
Contributed photo.
Story by Brittany Wentzell
Twitter: @BrittWentzell
Email: wentzell.brittany@radioabl.ca
