Since 2015 these rotary screw traps (smolt wheels) have been catching wild Atlantic Salmon smolt in the Miramichi River in Northern New Brunswick. These smolt will be a part of an innovative Atlantic Salmon conservation program called Smolt to Adult Supplementation or SAS. These traps, installed by the Miramichi Salmon Association, are designed to catch smolt that will then be raised to maturity in the MSA hatchery at South Esk. Once the SAS fish have reached maturity in two years they will be released back into their native river to spawn naturally. The project goal is to get more eggs in the gravel and increase the amount of wild smolt in the river. 

This project is one of the four major projects that the partners in CAST – Collaboration for Atlantic Salmon Tomorrow are working on. Other projects include assessing the population of adult salmon using ARIS sonar; mapping critical habitat with thermal imaging and LiDAR; and creating a common data bank for population modelling data.

To learn more about CAST: http://castforsalmon.com/