Multiyear Survey of the Romaine River Salmon Population in Relation with the Hydroelectric Complex, Some Baseline Results

The Romaine hydroelectric complex is located on Québec’s Côte-Nord, Canada. The construction and the 30-year+ monitoring of the salmon population started in 2009. The results presented cover two of the major surveys: the estimation of the adult salmon runs and the estimation of the salmon nests.

The adult salmon runs were estimated in 2010 and 2013. A fence and a fish counter were used at KM 7 of the river. The estimated catches (sport-1010 and subsistence-2010&2013) in the first kilometres of the river are added to the counts. The runs were estimated at 151 salmons in 2010 and 266 in 2013. The distribution between grilse and big salmon were similar both years (G:BS = 34%:66% in 2010 and 30%:70% in 2013).

The nest counts were done in 2003, 2004 and every year since 2010. A significant reduction has been seen since the beginning of the 2000’s, the total number of nests being 196 in 2003, 166 in 2004 and only between 87 and 136 since 2010. The distribution of the nests also shows fluctuations since 2003. Since 2010, an increasing proportion of the total count has been seen in the main course of the river (from 24% to 56%).