The Skippers Brook Restoration Project will take place over a two year period to re-establish access and restore habitat for Atlantic salmon and brook trout to Skippers Pond. Two significant beaver dams (approximately 100m in length), located at the mouth of Skippers Brook near Back-up Pond, have created a complete barrier to upstream spawning and rearing habitat.
The first stage of the project was removal of sections of the two large beaver dams. The dams have changed the stream hydrology creating a large pool upstream and allowing wetland vegetation to establish downstream. IBEC’s team of project staff used a combination of aerial photographs and field assessments to determine the appropriate locations to remove sections of barrier. This will provide access to upstream habitat while limiting the impacts to the upstream pools and downstream wetland ecosystem.
After the hydrology of the stream has adjusted to the removal of the barriers, a site assessment will be conducted in spring of year 2 along the length of the brook to determine the necessary enhancement and restoration activities required. This information well be used to develop a detailed work plan which will identify the specific mitigation techniques to be used to ensure maximum benefit to Atlantic salmon and brook trout.
Upon completion of the work plan, IBEC’s project staff and volunteers will undertake the site enhancement activities outlined following prescribed industry guidelines and specifications. The techniques used will include, but will not be limited to: log structures, digger logs, boulder structures, brush bundles, boulder additions, channel reconstruction and realignment.
The efforts taken during this project will directly improve ecosystem health and increase access to headwaters of the Indian Bay watershed, maintaining abundance and maximizing the availability of Atlantic salmon and brook trout spawning and rearing habitat. This project is critical in restoring access to a pond that has long supported both salmon and trout populations and is a popular destination for recreational anglers.
Project Term: June 2016-March 2018
Project Photos
This project is funded by:
Indian Bay Ecosystem Corporation (IBEC) 