P.E.I. trout angler calling on province to better protect fish — and waterways

It's been 60-something years now, but Melvin Arsenault still remembers it as if it were yesterday. He was six years old, fishing on Point Deroche Pond off P.E.I.'s North Shore, reeling in all kinds of trout. 

"You could almost fill a boatful of them," he said. "It was very good fishing all the time."

But things seem different now, he said. 

"The last three years I fished it, there's hardly any. I think I caught five trout in about 15 trips. One time, I would catch 100 in that many trips."

Arsenault said he thinks the shift he's experiencing has to do with the state of the waterway.

Point Deroche Pond has a history of blue-green algae, which can produce toxins with nasty side effects. The algae like calm water; Arsenault said there used to be more of a current flowing through the area but that's changed too. 

"It flowed from the east to the west here at the bridge and there was a good flow of water because it was flowing out to Tracadie Bay so it kept moving the water," Arsenault said. 

"Now it's stopped." 

The local watershed protection group in the area agrees water flow is an issue, and one that can affect the ecosystem. 

"If there is any sediment runoff that's coming in — or sometimes streams are just moving sediment and they might get stuck along the way — then all of that's just going to pile up and stay in one place," said Raena Parent with the Winter River-Tracadie Bay Watershed Association.

"Sadly, right now that seems to be where it's heading… Deroche Pond."

Parent said there appears to be more beavers this year too, so workers have been busy dismantling dams. 

Some experts say beavers should be left alone when possible, so it's a tricky balance. An artificial channel to Tracadie Bay could also get blocked by debris and affect the water flow that way. 

As for the number of fish, Parent said the watershed group hasn't noticed anything specifically, but it doesn't currently have the resources to track population numbers.