Conservation groups look to get Atlantic salmon into Petitcodiac River

Ten conservation groups say they're going to work together to reintroduce the endangered wild Atlantic salmon back to the Petitcodiac River.

The provincial government is expected to open the gates of the Petitcodiac River's causeway in Moncton in the spring of 2010.

Tom Benjamin, president of the New Brunswick Salmon Council, said restocking the river with salmon when the causeway is opened could help the local fish habitat.

"With the Petitcodiac being as large a system and a significant volume of high-quality habitat, if we're able to get fish back here this really could be the key lynchpin to turning around the population levels for wild Atlantic salmon in the inner Bay of Fundy stock," he said.

The groups will consult with scientific experts to try to figure out which stock is genetically appropriate for the area, Benjamin said.

Tim Van Hinte, a spokesman with the Petitcodiac Riverkeeper, said it's important to try to restock the river even if the salmon numbers never fully recover.

"Nobody is going to stand here and guarantee we're going to have the same numbers of fish that we had historically in the river," he said.

"But what we do think is that the only way we're going to fix it is if we all work together and try and work towards a common vision."

Benjamin said the conservation groups will use the time try to hatch a plan to get some fish in the river very quickly as a long-term restocking plan is developed.

"I'd be very interested in doing anything we can to get some fish in the river as soon as we can ... that's very critical for the success [of the plan] is to move on this very, very quickly," he said.

That plan will be passed along to another group led by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans for consideration.