The federal liberal cabinet has approved plans by Sisson Mine to include two waterways that are habitat for endangered Atlantic Salmon and other fish species in the mine tailings site. The Sisson Mine project intends to use water bodies frequented by fish to dispose of the mine waste that will be generated by the mining operations.

The Nashwaak Watershed Association Inc. remains opposed to the project. Our many concerns have not been addressed and they include seepage from the Tailings Storage Facility (TSP), the need for a neutral third-party “peer review” of the proposed tailings management, the lack of financial securities plan, and detailed modelling of a complete TSF failure, have all not been adequately addressed in this process.

The Sisson Mine will be required to meet 40 conditions of approval set by the New Brunswick Government and obtain other federal and provincial authorizations before starting the mine operations.

To learn more about the NWAI perspective visit this link

 

Although our field season has just begun, our Natural Edge program has been off to a great start! We have already planted 68 silver maple trees and 1100 willows on a number of properties in Penniac and Durham Bridge, NB, where landowners had been experiencing erosion on their property. For landowners in the Nashwaak watershed with waterfront property, we have a Natural Edge program where we can help landowners with riverbank naturalization. We’d also like to thank summer staff from St. Mary’s First Nation for helping us to plant the silver maple trees and for staking the willows!

Summer 2019 is already off to a good start here at the Nashwaak Watershed Association as we have already hosted two tree planting and live willow staking events at the Marysville Flats as part of the Naahwaak Greenway restoration project.

On May 22, 2019, we planted 120 silver maple trees and staked 400 willow bushes along the riverbank with the help of 40 volunteers, which included volunteers from the Government of New Brunswick.

On May 31, 2019, we hosted our second tree planting event at the Marysville Flats. Volunteers from Siemens Canada, Rise, The Ville Cooperative, The Fredericton North Rotary Club, and from Tree Canada helped to plant 170 silver maple trees.

We’d like to thank all of the volunteers that helped us to plant silver maple trees and willows during these two events. We couldn’t do it without your help!

We’re pleased to announce that this is the fourth year we’ve received funding from the Atlantic Salmon Conservation Foundation (ASCF). Stephen Chase, Executive Director of the ASCF met with Marieka Chaplin for this funding announcement. The ASCF generously gave $34,049 to fund two projects in our watershed.

The funding is for projects that will improve fish habitat in the watershed. Fish require access to a variety of habitats to spawn, feed, and find cool water. One of the predominant causes of habitat fragmentation are watercourse crossings that create barriers and restrict the movement of juvenile and adult fish through a watershed. Our work aims to increase the amount of available upstream aquatic habitat.

For more details visit: Aquatic Connectivity