‘Lake over life’: Windsor aboiteau closure sparks environmental concerns in Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia fishers, conservationists and Indigenous groups are voicing environmental concerns around the closure of the Windsor Causeway aboiteau, calling for the immediate reopening of the gates.

“If the water keeps on, well, we’ll have to stay down here,” says Treaty Truck House #2 Society vice president Zacchary Paul.

He and other members of the Treaty Truck House #2 Society have been back on-site of the Windsor Causeway for some days and plan to stay until the water can freely flow again through the aboiteau gates — a necessity for local wildlife, they say

“When the gates are closed, all these fish are coming back but they can’t get in,” Paul said. “And so what happens is they come back day after day after day trying to get up river, and they exhaust themselves.”

The aboiteau closed June 1 by a province-issued emergency order as a precautionary measure to refill Lake Pisiquid during the wildfires.

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The move has had various environmental impacts since.

“We have all these fish that come in from the ocean, and they can’t go anywhere so they go where the water goes,” said Paul. “We had a pretty high tide over here last week, and so they come up here.”

Piles of dead Gaspereau fish can be found throughout the area. As the tide drops, the fish get stuck in holes and die from a lack of oxygen.

“We found dead fish inside the lake and we’ve been finding dead fish, of course, for almost two weeks downstream of the barrier of the Windsor Causeway,” fisherman Darren Porter said.

He’s been surveying the area and says there’s been a lot of damage done.

Gaspereau fish have been disturbed at the peak of their run and Inner Bay of Fundy salmon are restricted from their routes.

“Politicians have chosen this lake over life,” Porter said. “All of those birds upstream just got their nests completely flooded during peak nesting time. This government cares nothing for life.”

Paul and members of the Treaty Truck House don’t want to see human wants considered above the needs of the area’s wildlife.

“It’s a little disheartening,” said Paul. “We had great success over the past two years with the fish and the spawning, and they’d been able to return somewhat to how they’re supposed to be.”

“Seeing a provincial tragedy being used as a kind of ploy to give an appearance of a lake, it’s just baffling. It really is.”

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EMO Minister John Lohr, who issued the emergency order, declined an interview request from Global News.

His office says, “The order is in place for two weeks and will be renewed as long as it is needed for public safety, based on the recommendations of local and provincial fire resources.”

The emergency order will end June 15, with government officials deciding on the next move at that point.

That same day, Porter will be at the Supreme Court regarding a judicial review he has filed into Minister Lohr’s decision to issue the emergency order and block the federal ministerial order.