Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
After opponents stopped the project last year, chemical spraying to wipe out an invasive bass population in Miramichi Lake is set to take place later this summer. Last year's attempt to eradicate smallmouth bass was halted because Wolastoqey grandmothers and mothers concerned about the environmental impact of the spray took to the lake in canoes. It is unsafe to spray rotenone, the fish-killing pesticide being used, when people are on the water.
A plan to begin applying the fish-killing pesticide rotenone to sections of the Miramichi watershed has been delayed by at least one day, the Atlantic Salmon Federation says. Earlier this year, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans gave the green light to eradicate smallmouth bass, an invasive species, by spraying sections of the Miramichi watershed beginning on Tuesday. The Atlantic Salmon Federation and the North Shore Micmac District Council have been pushing for the project to protect salmon for several years now, and originally hoped it would go ahead last summer. The federation has said smallmouth bass threaten salmon and trout by taking over their food and habitat.
