Day 3

This afternoon I met Leanord, the guy who runs the Margaree Fish Hatchery. We had a nice chat about the local fishing, hunting and wildlife scene. He used to work for the Canadian Federal Gov't when they owned the hatchery, and when the feds decided to dump it, he quit his job to run it for a group of individuals and groups, including the Margaee Salmon Assn. He's an avid fisherman, hunter and gatherer and talked about how the river had changed since they started managing the Highlands -the interior hill region of Cape Breton where the Margeree starts- for pulp. With the original forest replaced by managed clear cuts, the canopy and mossy forest floor are gone. Now when it rains the river rises fast, then drops fast and heats up too much in dry spells. The upper pools are filling in because the water runs off bringing sand and silt along with it. All this is not good for a fish population that brings in over a million dollars to the local economy in 5 months.

Oh yeah, my fishing. Not a strike when I was out this morning. A French-speaking kid from Quebec said I must have a lot of patience to fish for 3 days and not catch anything. I wonder if that's what it is.....

Pete F