The Washicoutai River (french: Rivière Washicoutai) is a salmon river in the
Côte-Nord
Côte-Nord (, ; ; land area ) is the second-largest administrative region by land area in Quebec, Canada, after Nord-du-Québec. It covers much of the northern shore of the Saint Lawrence River estuary and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence past Tadous ...
region of Quebec, Canada. It flows south and empties into the
Gulf of Saint Lawrence.
Location
The Washicoutai River is long.
The river narrows several times in its source, and runs through a succession of large lakes, some of which are up to deep.
It widens at its mouth, and the estuary, dotted with islands and islets, provides a refuge for a wide variety of seabirds.
Its mouth is from the village of
La Romaine.
It is in the municipality of
Côte-Nord-du-Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent
Côte-Nord-du-Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent is a municipality (Quebec), municipality in the regional county municipality of Le Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent Regional County Municipality, Le Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent in the Côte-Nord Quebec region, region of the ...
in Le Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent Regional County Municipality.
Name
In the
Innu language
Innu-aimun or Montagnais is an Algonquian language spoken by over 10,000 Innu in Labrador and Quebec in Eastern Canada. It is a member of the Cree–Montagnais–Naskapi dialect continuum and is spoken in various dialects depending on the commu ...
''Washicoutai'' means "it overlooks the bay."
It may refer to the fact that the river enters Washicoutai Bay by a high.
The name is found for the first time on a 1685 map by Jean-Baptiste-Louis Franquelin, spelled "Ouasassacouté".
The name is also applied to the archipelago along the shore on each side of the bay.
Description
The ''Dictionnaire des rivières et lacs de la province de Québec'' (1914) says of the river,
Basin
The Washicoutai River basin covers .
It lies between the basins of the
Musquanousse River to the west and the
Olomane River
The Olomane River (french: Rivière Olomane) is a river in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, Canada.
Location
The Olomane basin covers .
It lies between the basins of the Washicoutai River to the west and the Coacoachou River to the east.
It inc ...
to the east.
It is partly in the unorganized territory of
Petit-Mécatina and partly in the municipality of Côte-Nord-du-Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent.
A map of the
ecological regions of Quebec shows the Washicoutai River in sub-regions 6o-T, 6n-T and 6m-T of the east spruce/moss subdomain.
Land mammals include
black bear,
wolf
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...
and
moose
The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...
.
Fishing
The Washicouta, is recognized as an
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 ...
river.
In 2013–2017 an average of 47 salmon were reported caught each year.
The Pourvoirie de La Rivière Washicoutai provides outfitting services.
They have exclusive rights to the river, and provide a salmon sport fishery along a stretch.
Anglers, wading or in boats, can catch salmon with an average weight of up to as well as Arctic char, brook trout, landlocked salmon and anadromous brook trout.
Notes
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Washicoutai River
Rivers of Côte-Nord