Elsipogtog gets $1.3M to help restore fish habitat along coast

Elsipogtog First Nation will receive more than $1.3 million over the next five years to help protect coastal fish habitats in eastern New Brunswick.

Kopit Lodge will use the money from the federal Coastal Restoration Fund to protect species such as Atlantic salmon, brook trout, rainbow smelt and gaspereau.

One of the goals is to help restore salmon habitat and migration in the Richibucto, Kouchibouguac and Black rivers.

A fish ladder will be built on an old dam on the Kouchibouguac River, a news release said.

"It gives us a chance to be proactive in protecting and enhancing the water for the next seven generations," said Kenneth Francis, president of Kopit Lodge, which grew out of Elsipogtog's campaign against shale-gas exploration in the area a few years ago.

The Coastal Restoration Fund is part of a $1.5 billion oceans protection plan launched last year to rehabilitate the most vulnerable coastlines and ecosystems in Canada, the fund says on its website.

Miramichi-Grand Lake MP Pat Finniganannounced the funding for Elsipogtog on behalf ofFisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc.