Mindemoya River dredging program to allow salmon to spawn

The salmon were obviously ready to move up the mouth of the Mindemoya River in Providence Bay to stage and spawn, and with the help of Manitoulin Streams Improvement Association (MSIA), the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) and the Municipality of Central Manitoulin, this was accomplished last week, Manitoulin Expositor reports.

“With the help of the municipality of Central Manitoulin we dredged the mouth of the Mindemoya River in Providence Bay. The salmon were already staging and ready to head up the river to spawn,” said Seija Deschenes, project coordinator with MSIA.

“The idea is to give the fish a direct path into the river,” said Ms. Deschenes.

Also, she pointed out that the Mindemoya River dredging project is a partnership of MSIA, Central Manitoulin and the MNR.

“We applied for a dredging permit from the MNR, and they had given us a three-year permit,” she added.

During the pandemic over the past couple of years, the water levels on the Mindemoya River were high, so dredging didn’t need to take place.