The Atlantic Salmon Federation, NS Salmon Association and St Mary's River Association held a press conference in Halifax recently to showcase a video (done by Tom Cheney and Nick Hawkins) of salmon getting ready to spawn in McKeen Brook, Nova Scotia.

The St. Mary's and West rivers are home to two of the last self-sustaining Atlantic salmon populations of the Eastern Shore. These rivers are both home to world class restoration projects involving hundreds of volunteers and millions of dollars.
This hard work and the future of wild Atlantic salmon in northern Nova Scotia is threatened by planned gold mines near both rivers.

View the video here.
ARCHIBALD LAKE WILDERNESS AREA
Review the information below to get details of how this area could be
protected from the Cochrane Hill Gold Mine project.

Click here for the link to a CBC article from January 10, 2020.

Click here for a link to Dr. Kevin Spencer's video regarding Archibald Lake.
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2019 – 2020 
Our Association still say’s NOPE (No Open Pit Excavation)!  Our fight to protect our most precious resource started late summer 2018.  Now over a year later we still find ourselves immersed in the battle.  We strongly believe for our communities in the District of St. Mary’s survival and ability to prosper on the St Mary’s River and its ecosystems thriving!  We here at the St. Mary’s River Association are committed to doing everything we can to protect the St. Mary’s River and our clean water.  We encourage you to join us and do the same.

Thank you all for your continued support.
Please follow the campaign on Facebook at NOPECampaign, and on twitter and Instagram at @NOPE__NS (2 dashes between the E and N).
COCHRANE HILL GOLD PROJECT
Click here to go to our new blog regarding the proposed Cochrane Hill Gold Mine.
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UPDATE ON ONGOING RIVER WORK
This 2019 season has been a busy one.  Besides our battle against the proposed gold mine we have been working hard on our West branch habitat project.  If you recall in the spring of 2019 we received a 1.2 million dollar grant from the Coastal Restoration Fund.  This year as of October 17th 2019 we have completed the major task of restoring 90,000 square meters of total habitat. 57,000 square meters of habitat in the Smithfield – Indian Man section and 33,000 square meters of habitat above the Beaver Brook confluence of the West Branch St. Mary’s. On the West Branch we have been collecting water samples on a number of important tributaries.  We are also working on a riparian zone and floodplain re-forestation strategy that will be used to guide future recovery actions.
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​December 2018 - Adult Atlantic salmon broodstock being returned to Nova Scotia's St. Mary's River
Dan MacIntosh from CTV News interviews our president, Scott Beaver. 
Check out the video from December 20, 2018