The Margaree River (''Abhainn Mhargaraidh'') is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

on Cape Breton Island in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. The northeast branch of the river derives from the watershed of the

Cape Breton Highlands The Cape Breton Highlands (french: Plateau du Cap-Breton, gd, Àrd-thalamh Cheap Bhreatainn), commonly called the Highlands, refer to a highland or mountainous plateau across the northern part of Cape Breton Island in the Canadian province of N ...

, while the Southwest Margaree flows northeast from

Lake Ainslie Lake Ainslie is the largest natural freshwater lake on Cape Breton. The Southwest Margaree River starts at the lake and empties into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. The lake is approximately 20 km long and averages 5 km in width. It was f ...

. The two branches join at Margaree Forks. The river then flows north to empty into the

Gulf of Saint Lawrence , image = Baie de la Tour.jpg , alt = , caption = Gulf of St. Lawrence from Anticosti National Park, Quebec , image_bathymetry = Golfe Saint-Laurent Depths fr.svg , alt_bathymetry = Bathymetry ...

Margaree Harbour, Nova Scotia The Municipality of the County of Inverness is a county municipality on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. It provides local government to about 17,000 residents of the historical county of the same name, except for the incorporated town ...

. The river is 120 km in length and drains an area of 1,375 km². The Margaree has been well known for a century for its trout and

Atlantic salmon The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlantic salmon are ...

sport fishery, that draws anglers from near and far. Fishing is highly regulated now and is restricted to

fly fishing Fly fishing is an angling method that uses a light-weight lure—called an artificial fly—to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. The light weight requires casting techniques significantly diffe ...

only, with barbless hooks, in the main stem of the river. Famed American angler and Atlantic salmon conservationist

Lee Wulff Lee Wulff (February 10, 1905 – April 28, 1991), born Henry Leon Wulff, was an artist, pilot, fly fisherman, author, filmmaker, outfitter and conservationist who made significant contributions to recreational fishing, especially fly fishing and t ...

caught his first salmon on a fly on the Margaree in 1933. The gravel bars of the upper Northeast Margaree provide

spawning Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquat ...

grounds for Atlantic salmon; its steep valleys provide habitat for American marten and the rare

Gaspé shrew The long-tailed shrew or rock shrew (''Sorex dispar'') is a small shrew found in Atlantic Canada and the Northeastern United States. This shrew is slate grey in color with a pointed snout, a long tail, and lighter underparts. It is found on ro ...

. The Margaree Valley includes a mix of farms and woodlands. During the 18th century, Acadians settled along the coast near the mouth of the river; the French name for this river was St. Marguerite. Scottish Highlanders began to settle in the Margaree Valley at the beginning of the 19th century.

Moses Coady Moses Michael Coady (3 January 1882 – 28 July 1959) was a Roman Catholic priest, adult educator and co-operative entrepreneur best known for his instrumental role in the Antigonish Movement. Credited with introducing "an entirely new organizati ...

, a noted son of the Margaree Valley, attended school in Margaree Forks and later, taught there before completing his education in

Antigonish , settlement_type = Town , image_skyline = File:St Ninian's Cathedral Antigonish Spring.jpg , image_caption = St. Ninian's Cathedral , image_flag = Flag of Antigonish.pn ...

and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

.Jim Lotz. ''Moses Coady: The Humble Giant'', Novalis, St. Paul University, Ottawa, 2005, p. 17 The Margaree was designated a

Canadian Heritage River The Canadian Heritage Rivers System (CHRS; french: Le réseau de rivières du patrimoine canadien) is a joint program administered by the federal, provincial and territorial governments to conserve and protect the best examples of Canada's river her ...

in 1998. HMCS ''Margaree'', a World War II Canadian naval destroyer, was named after this river.

See also

References

Further reading