Extension of Route 138 in the Lower North Shore | “One of the worst possible routes” for salmon

Quebec has opted for the route with the greatest impact on salmon and wetlands to extend Route 138 between Tête-à-la-Baleine and La Tabatière, deplore various observers, who are surprised that the project has escaped an assessment by the BAPE.

A bridge in the middle of a salmon pool and nearly 40,000 m^⁠2 of wetlands and aquatic environments affected: a 9.1 km section of the extension of Route 138 between Tête-à-la-Baleine and La Tabatière, in Basse-Côte-Nord, is attracting criticism.

The chosen route will cross 24 wetlands and 6 permanent watercourses, including a sensitive sector of the Gros Mécatina River, one of the last salmon rivers in Quebec that is still completely intact, deplore the Quebec Atlantic Salmon Federation (FQSA) and the Atlantic Salmon Federation of Canada (FSA).

“This can pose a problem for the ascent,” explains biologist Myriam Bergeron, general director of the FQSA, recalling that the pits serve as a resting area for the fish.

The timing of the work, between 1^er July and September 30, leaves the director of programs in Quebec at the FSA, Charles Cusson, speechless. “They would like to start the work at the same time as the salmon begin arriving in the river,” he exclaims.

The two organisations are also concerned about the risks of poaching that the chosen route will entail, by facilitating access to this portion of the river, and about the surveillance of the construction site, in such a remote and inaccessible region.

Unprecedented measures to reduce the number of catches authorized for salmon fishing were adopted at the end of July by the Ministry of the Environment, the Fight against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks (MELCCFP), due to the spawning runs “well below average in most rivers in southern Quebec.”

Read the article from The Press on the decline of salmon: “Where have the salmon gone?”

Solution rejected

The Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility (MTMD) has nevertheless rejected other route variants, including one that avoided the sensitive sector of the Gros Mécatina River and which affected fewer wetlands than the one that was retained, demonstrate documents obtained through the Access to Information Act and of the Privacy Act.

However, the MTMD states in a document submitted as part of its environmental authorisation applications that the chosen variant “represents the route with the least impact on the environment”.

The variant “stands out significantly from the others by its shorter route of around 900 m”, which represents savings in maintenance, travel time and intervention time during emergencies, it added.

The journey will thus be shortened by 46 seconds, the time it takes to cover 900 metres at a speed of 70 kilometres per hour, which will be the limit set on this unpaved “low-volume local road”.

The extension of Route 138 began in 2007, but work stopped in 2013 with the dissolution of the Pakatan Meskanau Corporation, which was leading the project; the MTMD relaunched it in 2017, based on environmental studies carried out between 2008 and 2012.

“All these scenarios [devraient être] analyzed with the critical eye that we have in 2024,” believes Pierre-Olivier Fortin, deputy director of the FQSA.

BAPE avoided

The construction of this section avoids the strictest environmental assessment process, which involves the production of an impact study and the possibility of an investigation by the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE).

However, there are various “triggers” in the project for such a procedure that could apply, such as the planned diversion of a watercourse, which is not mentioned in the authorization applications, observes environmental law lawyer Chloé D’Astous, who studied the file.

She adds that the encroachment on wetlands and aquatic environments declared “is quite conveniently below the threshold of subjection” to an impact study, which is 5000 m⁠^⁠2 by affected environment, and that the redaction of the documents obtained does not allow this estimate to be validated.

“Coming from the Ministry of Transport, we would have expected another level in terms of obtaining authorisations,” says M^e D’Astous, who doubts in light of the documents obtained that the planned route is really the one with the least ecological impact.

The chosen section will also cross the planned protected area of ​​the Harrington Harbour coast, but the Ministry of the Environment intends to exclude the road’s right-of-way from this future biodiversity reserve, according to the documents obtained.

The extension of Route 138 also avoids a federal assessment, which only applies to roads longer than 50 km, since Quebec has until now divided the 425 km project into several sections not exceeding this threshold, indicated to The Press the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada.

Outfitter threatened

The chosen route is of particular concern to the owner of the Mécatina outfitter, Nancy Bobbitt, who is worried both about the salmon and about her family business, launched in the 1970s by her grandparents.

“I honestly believe it’s one of the worst routes they could have chosen,” she exclaims, stressing that she is in favour of the extension of the 138, like most people in the region.

“I think there’s going to be less fish,” fears the Harrington Harbour native, who spent her summers at the outfitter as a child.

“This river is unique,” ​​she said, emphasizing that its isolation is its charm, something that the passage of the road a kilometer from her outfitter would also affect.

The FQSA is surprised by the “very brief explanations” that officials from the Ministry of the Environment gave it in response to its questions.

“We felt that they didn’t want to answer us, it remained opaque,” says Myriam Bergeron. “We were told that everything was fine, but we continue to have concerns.”

The Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility did not respond to questions from The Press.