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By
John Chilibeck, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The Daily Gleaner
Indigenous leaders in New Brunswick say Ottawa has betrayed their people by announcing the closure of the Mactaquac Biodiversity Facility, a hatchery that keeps their prized wild Atlantic salmon alive.
But a top official at the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans says private talks are taking place with Indigenous organizations to take over the facility’s live wild salmon gene bank and with NB Power to ensure the big salmon can still make safe passage over the massive Mactaquac dam.
Last week, Indigenous leaders gathered in the community closest to the dam and hydro station, Bilijk, or Kingsclear First Nation, not far from Fredericton, to talk to community members and the media about the urgency of saving their salmon, at risk of disappearing forever.
Since the dam was first built and the hydro station opened in 1968, wild salmon that are central to Wolastoqey culture have been blocked from swimming up the St. John River – the waterbody the Indigenous people call the Wolastoq in the western part of the province.
At 55 metres in height, the towering mound is just too tall for the fighting fish to leap up.
The hatchery catches many of the salmon in a cool pool a short distance from the foot of the dam and trucks them 150 kilometres upriver, where they spawn in the Tobique, near another Wolastoqey community.
When the juvenile salmon, or smolts, emerge in the spring, hatchery workers catch hundreds of them and bring them back to the facility to ensure they grow to adulthood so they can start the lifecycle again.
These St. John River salmon have low survival rates when they go out to sea in the Bay of Fundy, and it’s feared they could be wiped out.
“This facility keeps salmon in the Wolastoq alive,” said Justice Gruben, the young chief of Bilijk, who likened salmon to members of the Wolastoqiyik kin, underscoring the fish’s deep spiritual and cultural significance. “The Department of Fisheries and Ocean’s unilateral decision sends the message that they have given up on restoring salmon in the Wolastoq.
“We cannot let this happen.”
Normally, by May, the smolt would be caught and brought back to the facility, underlining the urgency of the situation.
In February, the department, or DFO, said it was ending the program this year, without consulting the Wolastoqey Nation. About six full-time federal workers will be transferred to other facilities in the Halifax area and St. Andrews, while a similar number of employees on term contracts will be laid off.
The buildings on the sprawling, five-hectare property will be sold off once the program winds down by the end of the year, according to the rules laid out by the federal department of Public Works.
Brunswick News sent the Wolastoqey Nation’s media release on the controversy to DFO. A spokeswoman responded with a written statement.
“The Department recognizes the cultural and spiritual importance of wild Atlantic salmon to the Mi’kmaq, and the important stewardship role that First Nations communities play in protecting and conserving the species,” said spokeswoman Debbie Buott-Matheson in an email to Brunswick News, mistaking the Wolastoqiyik people in western New Brunswick for the Indigenous Mi’kmaw people on the eastern coast.
“That is why DFO will continue to work collaboratively with First Nations to sustainably manage all fisheries while respecting those rights and prioritizing conservation.”
She pointed out that last month, the federal government announced $81.7 million in the Nature Strategy to rebuild wild Atlantic salmon populations and protect the fish’s habitat.
She said her department would “continue to explore and support alternative conservation and recovery investments consistent with Canada’s national strategy to ensure the future of Atlantic salmon, and aligned with constitutional, statutory, and international obligations, including initiatives that are Indigenous-led or collaboratively governed.”
Ross Perley, the chief of Neqotkuk or Tobique First Nation, wasn’t impressed with the big funding.
In an opinion piece he sent to the Telegraph-Journal, he pointed out that the money would be spread out over more than 50 river systems in the region, with nothing for the Wolastoq.
“If DFO feels comfortable walking away from its obligations to the Wolastoq and our salmon, what is keeping it from abandoning other river systems and other species when things get tough? This is about integrity and should worry anyone who believes in protecting nature.”
And the story is complicated by a legal document. Fifty-eight years ago, when NB Power opened the dam, it signed an agreement with the federal fisheries minister.
In that contract, Ottawa agreed to keep running the hatchery “during the life of the Mactaquac Project.”
Asked about it, NB Power spokeswoman Tracey Stephenson said her organization had nothing to do with the decision to close the biodiversity facility.
“We can confirm that NB Power views the 1968 Agreement with DFO as a binding legal commitment,” she wrote in an email. “This agreement established that the federal government would operate the biodiversity facility for the duration of the Mactaquac hydro station’s operational life.”
Stephenson said her public utility had communicated to the federal government that it believes the commitment to operate the biodiversity facility remains binding for as long as the Mactaquac Generating Station is in service.
“NB Power continues to engage with the federal government to advocate for the facility’s continued operation and remains focused on ensuring that the original terms of the agreement are respected to protect the Saint John River ecosystem,” she wrote.
On Friday, the director general of DFO Maritimes Region in the Halifax area, Doug Wentzell, called Brunswick News and tried to address many of the concerns.
He said Indigenous groups had expressed an interest to DFO in taking over the restocking and fish passage programs.
“There are some groups that are looking at it – based on what their communities or their organizations are interested in – that may be looking to take on those fish,” he said in an interview. “So, we’re working with them to understand that and see if that’s something we can support.”
There are also talks, Wentzell said, between DFO and three Indigenous organizations about taking over the live gene bank program that helps restock rivers in the inner Bay of Fundy, the most famous of which is the Big Salmon River in St. Martins on territory the Mi’kmaq claim.
But he said the decision to close the biodiversity facility would not change. He said tens of millions had been put into the live gene bank and restocking program with very little to show for it.
“Abundance has not improved, with many rivers experiencing no returns or having declined to only, literally, a handful of fish every year, sadly. So, you know, like I say, after close to 25 years of investment, and tens of millions of dollars over that period, it basically was determined that marine survival and the overall outcomes have not improved.”
As for the Mactaquac Dam, Wentzell said DFO was in discussions with NB Power about taking over some of the fish passage responsibilities once the hydro station undergoes an estimated $9-billion refurbishment.
He didn’t seem fazed about the agreement Ottawa signed with the public utility many moons ago.
“I can’t share the legal advice with you, but I can say we’re very, very confident in making sure that the Fisheries Act is upheld, and again, we’re fortunate to have a partner like New Brunswick Power that we’re working with to make sure that happens.”
But Chief Gruben of Kingsclear told reporters he was shocked that Ottawa decided to close the biodiversity facility without asking his community’s opinion. The First Nation of about 700 people is tucked right beside the facility just a few kilometres from the dam.
“They didn’t even consider the people of our nation. They could have come to us to say, ‘hey, we’re planning on doing this. What would you guys suggest? It’s in your back yard.’ But of course, DFO did not do any of that. Our responsibility is not only to the river, but to all of our kinship that are in that river, but more importantly, it’s to our next generations.”
Allan Polchies Jr., the chief of St. Mary’s First Nation in Fredericton, said the Wolastoqey Nation had consulted with its legal team, but only wanted to resort to going to court as a last resort.
“We don’t want to be speaking legal all the time because you know what that gets us into, right? It gets us into a long argument. We need to resolve these issues today. And all we’re telling the federal government is that we do not agree with their decision. We have a better plan. Come to the table and talk to us.”
Wentzell insisted his department was willing to come to the table. And he said he and others at DFO understood and respected the cultural and spiritual significance that the Wolastoqey, Mi’kmaw and nearby Passamaquoddy people in Saint Andrews and St. Stephen put on salmon.
“There are fairly significant investments that are now on the table – more than $80 million – that give us even more tools to look at different things like habitat restoration and other work, that may further help salmon and achieve more substantive results.”