GASPÉSIE, Canada — In Quebec’s Gaspésie region, Indigenous river guardians say they are in a race against climate change to protect the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). The Mi’gmaq Wolastoqey Indigenous Fisheries Management Association (MWIFMA), serving the Gesgapegiag, Gespeg and Wolastoqiyik Wahsipekuk First Nations, has launched a drone-mapping program to locate cool-water refuges in river systems before they disappear as temperatures rise. Using thermal-infrared cameras, the team surveys entire river lengths, generating color-coded temperature maps that reveal cold pockets critical to salmon survival. Stephen Jerome, respected elder of the Mi’kmaq of the eastern Canada region posing by the very river spot he was raised on as a child. Image by Boris R. Thebia. Stephen Jerome, a respected elder of the Mi’kmaq community living in Gesgapegiag, says he has witnessed firsthand the cumulative toll on salmon populations that have sustained his people for thousands of years. Overfishing has depleted once-abundant stocks in the region, while climate change delivers a double threat: Warming temperatures push Atlantic salmon beyond their ideal thermal tolerance. “Recent droughts have left cold, deep refuge pools shrinking or disappearing entirely,” he says. Salmon typically prefer temperatures of 12-17° Celsius (53.6-62.6° Fahrenheit) with heat stress beginning around 20°C (68°F) and lethal exposure at 25-28°C (77-82°F). According to a study, many Quebec rivers are climbing 0.7-0.9°C (about 1.3-1.6°F) per decade, and current models estimate river water temperatures in eastern Canada will climb by 3.2°C (5.8°F) by the end of the 21st century under high greenhouse gas scenarios. Samuel and Miguel…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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