The Aguanish River is a salmon river of the Côte-Nord region of Quebec. It flows from north to south and empties into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.
Location
The Aguanish River is more than long. It is known for the Trait-de-Scie, a deep canyon wide with several rapids and small waterfalls that are passed by the salmon heading up the river. The current has scoured out large cavities in the pink granite river bed, which are called "giant cooking pots". The mouth of the river is to the southwest of the village of Aguanish, which it passes through, in the municipality of Aguansh, Minganie Regional County Municipality. The mouth is west of Natashquan. The first falls are in the center of the village, just north of the Quebec Route 138 bridge, and can be approached by a trail from the parking lot to the west of the bridge.
Name
The name "Aguanish River" was made official on 11 April 1985. The name is also given as Goynish River or Aguanus River. It has been spelled Goines, Guanis, Goinis, Goynish, Agwanus, Aguanus or Agouanus. It probably comes from the Innu languageakwanich, meaning "small shelter". The Dictionnaire des rivières et lacs de la province de Québec says Agwanus or Agouanus is a Montagnais word that means "where one unloads" boats. Some say it means "poor place" or "place with little". Another theory is it comes from the Innu word akuannis meaning a beaver scooping mud from the river bottom to build its lodge.
Description
According to the Dictionnaire des rivières et lacs de la province de Québec,
Fish include brook trout, landlocked Atlantic salmon and northern pike. The river has been open to sport fishing since 1988. The Innu of Natashquan have exclusive rights to the stretch from the mouth to the Trait-de-Scie. There are six salmon pools below the first falls and three above the second falls. Most catches are. A 1984 study of the river identified 39 obstacles considered impassible to salmon on the river and its tributaries, with nine on the river itself from kilometer 5 upwards. The only significant amount of good habitat is upstream from kilometer 137, including the Aguanish North River. In May 2015 the Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks of Quebec announced a sport fishing catch-and-release program for large salmon on sixteen of Quebec's 118 salmon rivers. These were the Mitis, Laval, Pigou, Bouleau, aux Rochers, Jupitagon, Magpie, Saint-Jean, Corneille, Piashti, Watshishou, Little Watshishou, Nabisipi, Aguanish and Natashquan rivers. The Quebec Atlantic Salmon Federation said that the measures did not go nearly far enough in protecting salmon for future generations. In view of the rapidly declining Atlantic salmon population catch-and-release should have been implemented on all rivers apart from northern Quebec.
