As would be expected, particularly in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and perhaps Newfoundland the forest industry must be held responsible for the major environmental changes affecting fish. They have been either directly of indirectly responsible for reducing the productivity of some of the finest salmon, alewives, smelt and other anadromous fish.

Contributing to the threat has been the destruction of spawning grounds and the eggs and fry therein through the physical action of log drives. This method was the chief means of transportation of timber to the mills and pulp plants in the early days on the Miramichi River.

Also associated with the forest industry but hardly its fault, is the necessity for control of forest pests. The outstanding example is the DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane) spraying program for spruce budworm. From 1952 to 1957, 11 1/2 million acres were covered at a cost of over ten million dollars. This is well over half the forested area of New Brunswick. The chemical had disastrous effects on the young fish and stream insects.

The forest of New Brunswick and the Gaspe peninsula were suffering from a severe outbreak of the spruce budworm. This insect pest feeds mostly on the needles of balsam fir and spruce, and can kill trees of all ages. In 1952 the lumber industry started to control the insect and save the trees in northern New Brunswick by spraying the woods with DDT insecticide from aircraft. The next year a new company, Forest Protection Limited, was formed by several lumber companies and the Province of New Brunswick, to handle budworm control. This company, in cooperation with the Federal Government, had continued extensive spraying operations over new areas each year until the early '60's. In 1953 and 1954 the insecticide was applied at the rate of 1/2 lb. Of DDT per acre, (one poung per acre in 1952).

In the face of such widespread and repeated applications of DDT many biologists, sportsmen and naturalists were increasingly worried about the side effects of the insecticide on fish and wildlife in the budworm-infested areas. Fisheries workers were especially concerned because many species of fish were known to be extremely sensitive to DDT.

In June, 1954, the million acres in New Brunswick which were sprayed with insecticide included about one third of the watershed of the Miramichi. This gave the first opportunity for anyone to study the effects of DDT on stocks of Atlantic salmon which had been under close observation before spraying.

For the first time a complete watershed supplying water to a fish rearing station was in the spray plan. With the knowledge of all concerned this was sprayed at the indicated time including the storage pond and the station itself. The Company, with prior permission, operated a filter system on one line of the water supply. What happened? In line with the assumption that had been washed out the year before, most of the fish survived the bombardment and grew large. (1955)

Early in the spray operation, the watershed supplying water to the Miramichi Fish Hatchery was sprayed. The results were disastrous. About 25% (925,000) of the hatchery stock of salmon fry died over a period of two weeks from DDT poisoning and the Company was sued for damages by the Queen in the right of Canada.

In cooperation with the Fisheries Research Board of Canada, tests of parr mortality due to DDT spraying used to combat the spruce budworm in New Brunswick, were carried out on several branches of the Miramichi River. The method involved the impoundment of yearling parr in fine wire containers. Mortalities appeared high. A heavy parr mortality in the Sevogle and North West Miramichi Rivers was reported following a big rise in the level of the river.