North Shore Micmac District Council- Anqotum Resource Management

Our Story

North Shore MicMac District Council (NSMDC) is a Tribal Council, and not for profit organization incorporated in 1987, that provides Service Delivery, Technical Support and Building Capacity in Water & Waste Management, Housing & Infrastructure, Post-secondary Education, Training & Employment, Community Development, Financial and Technical Services and Child & Family services. NSMDC primarily serves our seven member nations, as well as 25 other Atlantic First Nation Communities for the betterment of our people. NSMDC is governed by a Board of Directors (Chief of each community).

NSMDC houses our AAROM programming (Anqotum Resource Management) that has been providing technical services to our member communities since 2007. We have extensive experience in the collection of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and are aware of the values, customs and sensitive nature of the information collected. We also work with our communities to conduct research on terrestrial and aquatic species at risk, and are aware of the appropriate procedures when dealing with these animals.

Highlight Project

Species at Risk Research

Our work on the brook floater (a SARA-listed fresh water mussel of Special Concern) addresses the uncertainty associated with the populations and distribution in New Brunswick, as well as their critical habitat. We have conducted traditional manual surveys and have also utilized new advancements in the detection of DNA traces from water sources. We recently hosted a conference to share our research on American eel, the future of Collaborative Indigenous Research and possible threats to eels, their habitat, and their migration or reproduction. We recently hosted a conference to share our research on American eel, the future of Collaborative Indigenous Research and possible threats to eels, their habitat, and their migration or reproduction.

Miramichi Conservation Partnership Program

Together, with like-minded local partners, such as the Miramichi Salmon Association and Atlantic Salmon Federation, Anqotum is providing support to the Miramichi Conservation Partnership Program, led by NSMDC, to undertake urgent recovery action towards a vision of a healthy salmon population on the Miramichi. The fieldwork projects, that began in mid-May of 2019, will continue in the years to come and include: cold-water refuge enhancement; eliminating the threat of invasive species; reducing striped bass numbers to sustainable levels; and estimating smolt numbers migrating to the ocean from the Northwest and Little Southwest Miramichi Rivers.

Post-Restoration Monitoring

At the request of one of our member communities, we provided project management oversight to a major two-year restoration project comprised of many stakeholders addressing longstanding erosion issues affecting the Little Southwest Miramichi River’s natural ability to create and maintain quality and complex habitat for key species including Atlantic salmon, brook trout, American eel, gaspereau and sturgeon. We have completed the second of a four-year monitoring plan, where we collect important data to assess geomorphic or benthic population changes and overall post-construction effectiveness.

Habitat Enhancement

Working with partners such as local Indigenous lobster fishers, our planning is well underway to implement a multi-year project to install and monitor 40,000 artificial reefs units in Miramichi Bay (eastern shore of New Brunswick), an ecologically significant region that serves as feeding grounds for herring and mackerel and provides refuge for feeding and spawning of many species such as lobster. The reefs will have an important impact on the ecosystem because they provide shelter and diversity habitat for important species found on the ocean floor such as mussels, rock crab and algae.