Polamuwok Back
Save Wolastoq Salmon
What is happening?
Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has announced they will close the Mactaquac Biodiversity Facility (MBF) by October of 2026. This decision was made without consultation with Wolastoqey communities, without warning to the public, and without any other plan for critical conservation programs hosted there.
This is urgent. In the short term, DFO intends to release fish currently housed at the facility before the end of the summer. For many of these fish, it means they will not survive or spawn, putting the species at risk.
In the long term, without this facility, it is likely that salmon will become extinct above Mactaquac Dam and valuable genetic diversity will be lost.
Why it matters
The Facility was established in 1968 through a legal agreement between the New Brunswick Electrical Power Commission and the federal Fisheries Minister to account for the impact the dam would have on salmon in the river.
The facility supports several programs that contribute to the conservation of Atlantic salmon on the Wolastoq (the Saint John River). The Tobique River captive rearing program collects wild, young salmon, raises them to maturity, and releases them back to the river to spawn. This boosts the number of spawning salmon in the Tobique River, which counters low returns of salmon to the Mactaquac Dam.
The facility also operates an in-river conservation loop upstream of the Mactaquac dam necessary for maintaining the genetic diversity of salmon.
The Wolastoqiyik are salmon people. Polamuwok play a central role in many of our stories and traditions. Sadly, the Wolastoqiyik have been unable to harvest salmon from our own river since 1998. The loss of Polamuwok from Wolastoq represents a loss of Wolastoqey cultural identity.
Canada has committed, through the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and through its own reconciliation agenda, to consult and cooperate with Indigenous peoples on decisions that significantly affect our rights. The decision to shut down the last facility standing between the Wolastoq salmon and extinction is exactly the kind of decision that demands that consultation and, in fact, that consultation is a legal requirement.
First Nations and stakeholders are ready to work with DFO to ensure the vital programs operating at the facility can continue to ensure the long-term conservation of this critical species.
What can you do
1. Sign the petition
2. Send correspondence to your MP/Federal rep/DFO
3. Stay informed
4. Inform others | Share on social media
PETITION TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
WHEREAS:
The Mactaquac Biodiversity Facility (MBF), located on the banks of the Wolastoq (Saint John River) in New Brunswick, has protected Polamuwok (Atlantic Salmon) for more than 50 years. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) announced it will close the MBF without meaningful consultation with the Wolastoqey Nation.
Atlantic salmon populations above the Mactaquac Dam have declined from an estimated 100,000 returning fish annually before industrialization to just a few hundred per year. The MBF is the primary reason those genetics still exist.
The 1968 agreement establishing the MBF committed DFO to the operation of the MBF for “the life of the Mactaquac Project” and that project is being extended to 2068.
Polamuwok is a sacred species for the Wolastoqey people. They are an important part of Wolastoqey identity, stories, way of life, and Aboriginal and Treaty Rights.
THEREFORE, WE CALL ON THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA TO:
Keep the MBF programs operational at minimum until viable alternatives are established, and improved fish passage is implemented through the Mactaquac Life Achievement Project.
Immediately engage in meaningful consultation with the Wolastoqey Nation in New Brunswick regarding the future of the MBF, the programs it supports, and decisions affecting salmon in the Wolastoq.
Reaffirm Canada’s commitment to Atlantic salmon conservation in the Wolastoq watershed, equivalent to investments made in other river systems such as Pacific Salmon and Atlantic Salmon in other areas of the region.
Ensure that all salmon currently at the facility are released at biologically appropriate times and locations.
PÉTITION À LA CHAMBRE DES COMMUNES RÉUNIE EN PARLEMENT
ATTENDU DE :
Le Centre de biodiversité de Mactaquac (CBM), situé sur les rives de la rivière Wolastoq (rivière Saint-Jean) au Nouveau-Brunswick, protège le polamuwok (le saumon de l’Atlantique) depuis plus de 50 ans.
Le ministère des Pêches et des Océans (MPO) a annoncé la fermeture du CBM sans consultation significative de la Première Nation wolastoqey.
Les populations de saumon de l’Atlantique en amont du barrage Mactaquac ont diminué, passant d’environ 100 000 poissons en montaison annuellement avant l’industrialisation à quelques centaines seulement par année. C’est principalement grâce au CBM que ce patrimoine génétique a pu être préservé.
L’accord de 1968 instituant le CBM reconnaissait l’impact que la construction et l’exploitation du barrage de Mactaquac auraient sur le saumon. L’accord engageait le MPO à assurer le fonctionnement du CBM pendant toute la durée du projet Mactaquac , et ce projet est prolongé jusqu’en 2068.
Le polamuwok est une espèce sacrée pour les Wolastokiyik. Il constitue un élément important de leur identité, leurs récits, leur mode de vie et des droits ancestraux et issus de traités.
PAR CONSÉQUENT, NOUS DEMANDONS AU GOUVERNEMENT DU CANADA DE :
Maintenir les programmes du CBM opérationnels au minimum jusqu’à ce que des solutions de rechange viables soient mises en place et qu’un passage amélioré pour les poissons soit mis en œuvre dans le cadre du projet Projet d’atteinte de durée de vie utile de la centrale de Mactaquac.
Engager immédiatement une consultation significative, de nation à nation, avec la Nation wolastoqey au Nouveau-Brunswick concernant l’avenir du CBM, les programmes qu’il soutient et les décisions touchant le saumon dans le bassin versant de la rivière Wolastoq.
Réaffirmer l’engagement du Canada envers la conservation du saumon de l’Atlantique dans le bassin versant de la rivière Wolastoq, à un niveau équivalent aux investissements réalisés dans d’autres réseaux de rivières, tels que ceux consacrés au saumon du Pacifique et au saumon de l’Atlantique dans d’autres zones de la région.
Veiller à ce que tous les saumons actuellement présents dans l’installation soient relâchés à des moments et dans des lieux biologiquement appropriés.
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Resources
Links, articles, and scientific papers on Wolastoq salmon
The Mactaquac Biodiversity Facility was built in 1968 following the construction of the Mactaquac dam. Originally built to compensate for the losses to Atlantic salmon because of the dam, studies determined that it would be impossible to maintain the historical salmon population downstream of the dam without a hatchery.
A formal legal agreement was made between DFO and the New Brunswick Electric Power Commission (NB Power) to build a hatchery to produce 500,000 young salmon per year and create systems to collect, sort, and move fish past the dam to support the river’s salmon population. Although the focus of the Facility’s activities shifted toward captive rearing in the early 2000s, DFO committed to operating the facility “during the life of the Mactaquac Project”. Through the Mactaquac Life Achievement Project (MLAP), the dam is set to undergo major repairs that will extend its lifespan to 2068, even as the key mitigation measure created to reduce its effects is being dismantled.
The work done at the Mactaquac Biodiversity Facility has been the life support system for Atlantic salmon in the Wolastoq. More needs to be done to fully restore the population.
As of now, the facility is planning to release all fish on-site by September 2026, but the earliest releases are scheduled to begin in April. The situation is urgent. For approximately 5,000 of those fish, this means getting released earlier than usual, anywhere from several months to up to 3 years ahead of the normal release time.
The Tobique River is one of the most important nursery habitats for Atlantic salmon and the biggest producer of salmon on the Wolastoq. Young salmon leaving the Tobique River must pass three hydropower dams and travel 300 km to reach the ocean, facing predators and delays from the dams along the way. Today, returns to the Wolastoq are at historic lows – in the 1980s over 30,000 salmon returned to the Mactaquac dam each year, now only a few hundred make the journey home. The Mactaquac Biodiversity Facility captures these young fish from the Tobique River, raises them to adulthood, and returns them to the Tobique to spawn naturally, helping them avoid the dangerous journey to the ocean and the poor survival that follows. Without that safeguard, their future is unclear, and the path ahead looks a lot like managed extinction.
• DFO operates 16 federal hatcheries in BC, many built on strong First Nation partnerships, yet they are shutting down the only federal Atlantic salmon hatchery in NB. For our communities, that contrast is impossible to ignore, and it raises a real question: how is this decision justified?
• The federal government has recently committed $81.7 million to stabilize and rebuild Atlantic Salmon populations through habitat restoration, monitoring, and partnerships with Indigenous communities and stewardship organizations. An investment of that scale should include salmon conservation on the Wolastoq.
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