The basics

Atlantic salmon are a cold-water species that need different habitats at different stages of their life cycle. Born in freshwater, they migrate out into the ocean to feed and grow and return to freshwater to breed or spawn. Salmon can travel up to 2,500 km across the Labrador Sea to Greenland. Atlantic salmon have an incredible sense of direction that guides them back to freshwater, specifically to the river where they were born.

In freshwater, Atlantic salmon need clear, cool, fast-moving water and a gravel bottom in order to spawn, and there must be rocky areas for the juvenile fish. Salmon are often found in pools that offer protection from predators and warmer temperatures, and where currents allow them to rest.

Brook trout can be anadromous (sea trout) or resident (brook trout). 

While resident brook trout complete their entire life cycle in freshwater, the anadromous ecotype (sea trout) migrates varying distances to maximize their growth in estuarine or coastal areas before returning to spawn in their native river.

Striped bass are a typical fish found in estuaries and coastal areas of eastern North America. It is an anadromous fish: spawning, incubation and initial development of the fry take place in fresh water. The juvenile bass then move to brackish and then out to salt water, where they feed and grow for a few years before reaching maturity.

Rivers are not the preferred habitat of striped bass, but some are found in rivers for variable periods of time. A form for reporting striped bass sightings on salmon rivers is available here and the information is used in follow-up studies with the MELCCFP.

Striped bass have an elongated, laterally compressed body, a triangular head and a large mouth with a protruding lower jaw. It has two separate dorsal fins, the first of which is spiny. Its back is dark olive green or black, its sides, pale or silver, and its belly, white. It has seven or eight dark horizontal stripes on its flanks, corresponding to the contour of its scales.

Landlocked salmon are freshwater salmon native to Lac-Saint-Jean and the North Shore. They are a smaller variety of salmon than the Atlantic salmon and are not anadromous. They are rarely found in officially designated salmon rivers but can occasionally be observed.

Landlocked salmon feed on fish, mainly rainbow smelt. The juveniles feed mainly on insects. In the river during spawning until their return to the lake, the adults stop feeding, except for a few insects eaten on the surface.