Nashwaak River

The Nashwaak River located in west-central New Brunswick, Canada; is a tributary of the Saint John River. It is 113 kilometres long. The river rises from Nashwaak Lake (southeast of the village of Juniper) and flows south and east through uninhabited land and rapids to the village of Stanley. From Stanley, the Nashwaak flows southeast to Nashwaak Bridge and Taymouth, then south the through several rural communities such as Durham Bridge, the historic town of Nashwaak Village and Penniac before it reaches the town of Marysville. It flows into the Saint John River opposite downtown Fredericton.

The river's name comes from the Maliseet language, a corruption of the word for slow current. It was used heavily by the Maliseet people as a transportation route to northwestern New Brunswick. A French fort, Fort Nashwaak, was built at the river's mouth in 1692 (near present day Barker's Point, New Brunswick) and was the first European settlement in the Fredericton area. It was captured by the British in 1696, and land along the river was later granted to United Empire Loyalists during the American Revolution. Further settlement occurred through the 19th century. A rail line and Route 8, both important links from southern to northern New Brunswick, were built along the river's shore. The rails were removed in 1995 and it is now a walking trail.

Today, the river is popular for canoeing and salmon fishing, and tubing.

Nashwaak River trail

Ecological issues

Salmon

Aquaculture practices from upstream in the Saint John river have caused a dramatic drop in the salmon population of the Nashwaak river. In the past, the river was known for its abundance of salmon but in recent years this number has decreased due to farming in various locations along the Saint John and in the Bay of Fundy. Fish raised in these hatcheries do not tend to migrate along their natural predecessors routes up the Nashwaak as they once did due to the removal of a biological memory system developed over the ages to ensure their survival and propagation. Modern dams and netting practices prevent the fish from returning to previously established spawning routes. Over time this practice has altered the memory of the species and therefore diminished the number previously documented in the Naswaak river system.

This process has been documented as being problematic in other locations around the world; as Ellen Wohl points out, "Similar attempts either to provide fish passage around a dam or to breed fish in a hatchery have been disimal failures for salmon and other species in the United States." ^[1]

References

↑ Ellen Wohl, A World of Rivers: Environmental Change on Ten of the World's Greatest Rivers, p. 286

Saint John River Watershed

Tributaries	Allagash River Aroostook River Baker Branch Saint John River Becaguimec Stream Big Black River Birch River Blackwater River Campbell Branch Little Black River River De Chute Daaquam River Fish River Hammond River Jemseg River Kennebecasis River Keswick River Little Black River Little Machias River Little Madawaska River Little River Little Saint Roch River Little Southwest Branch Saint John River Machias River Madawaska River Meduxnekeag River Musquacook Stream Nashwaak River Nerepis River North Branch Birch River North Branch Blackwater River North Branch Meduxnekeag River Northwest Branch Saint John River Oromocto River Red River Saint Croix Stream Saint Francis River Shields Branch South Branch Birch River South Branch Blackwater River South Branch Machias River South Branch Meduxnekeag River Southwest Branch Saint John River Tobique River West Branch Little Black River

Lakes	Baker Lake Beau Lake Chemquasabamticook Lake Churchill Lake Clear Lake Cross Lake Eagle Lake (Allagash R.) Eagle Lake (Fish R.) Fish River Lake Glazier Lake Grand Lake Long Lake Mactaquac Lake Millinocket Lake Mud Lake Munsungan Lake Musquacook Lakes Lake Pohenegamook Portage Lake Saint Froid Lake Saint John Ponds Scopan Lake Square Lake Umsaskis Lake

Towns	Allagash Ashland Blaine Bridgewater Caribou Eagle Lake Easton Edmundston Florenceville-Bristol Fort Fairfield Fort Kent Fredericton Frenchville Grand Bay–Westfield Grand Falls Grand Isle Hampton Hartland Hodgdon Houlton Lac-Frontière Limestone Littleton Madawaska Mapleton Mars Hill Masardis Monticello Nackawic New Limerick Oromocto Perham Perth-Andover Pohénégamook Portage Lake Presque Isle Quispamsis Rivière-Bleue Rothesay Sainte Agatha Saint-Camille-de-Lellis Saint-Cyprien Saint Francis Saint John Saint-Just-de-Bretenières Saint-Léonard Saint-Marcel Saint-Pamphile Saint-Zacharie Stockholm Sussex Van Buren Washburn Westfield Woodstock

Landmarks	Allagash Wilderness Waterway Bangor and Aroostook Railroad Clair–Fort Kent Bridge Edmundston–Madawaska Bridge Florenceville Bridge Fort Kent Hartland Bridge North Maine Woods Reversing Falls Saint John Harbour Bridge Saint John River High Level Crossing Saint Leonard–Van Buren Bridge Tinker Dam Watson Settlement Bridge

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Nashwaak River

Ecological issues

Salmon

References

See also