The Gespe’gewa’gi Institute of Natural Understanding (GINU) is a non-profit organization dedicated to aquatic research. Their Board of Directors is made up of members of several Mi’gmaq communities, including the Listuguj, Oinpegitjoig and Ugpi’ganjig communities. GINU’s activities focus on habitat management and stewardship, research, and safeguarding traditional Mi’gmaw Ecological Knowledge. They serve their member communities and collaborate with other NGOs and universities to better understand the current state of the environment, how we can safeguard it and how we can restore it.
In 2021, GINU hired AECOM to provide expertise and knowledgeable services for improving fish passage through restoration projects. By working collaboratively, several problematic sites were restored to allow fish passage and reestablish connectivity between these essential habitats, in all hydraulic conditions. GINU prioritized the sites to be restored based on habitat gains and AECOM helped assess the technical feasibility of achieving them. Then, development of sketches and plans were proposed and together, we created a work plan.
In Quebec, the reconnection of habitats favorable to brook trout, Atlantic salmon, and American eel was completed in the Blais Brook sub-watershed, a watercourse located in the Matapedia River watershed, in the municipality of Causapscal, Bas-Saint-Laurent. Apart from its role in American eel migration, the ecological importance of this watercourse is partly attributed to the fact that it represents an important thermal refuge, contributing to the persistence of Atlantic salmon and brook trout to elevated water temperatures experienced during summer low-flow events. More specifically, the project aimed to restore two culverts, box concrete type, acting as migratory barriers to upstream productive habitats that are vital to the spawning, rearing, feeding, and wintering of target species. The work involved creating two riffles, adding a migrating substrate suitable for American eels inside the culverts and adding concrete baffles to one of the concrete culverts, cast on site, to promote the passage of salmonids. Finally, two wooden weirs were also removed to complete the measures promoting fish passage in this section of the watercourse. The ecological characterization of the surrounding natural environment, as well as the request process for a certificate of authorization under section 22 of the LQE, completed the scope of services offered by AECOM as part of this mandate.
In New Brunswick, the collaboration established between GINU, and AECOM allowed carrying out improvements to ensure the free passage of fish, at various problematic culverts, in the Restigouche River watershed. Since 2021, a dozen sites have been restored to reestablish habitat connectivity for salmonid and eel populations. This work was previously authorized by the New Brunswick government through permits granted to GINU.Some restoration projects are cited as examples in the Guidelines for watercourse crossings in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island (DFO, 2025)
