Bierstadt Albert Salmon Fishing on the Cascapediac River

The Cascapédia River is a river in the

Gaspé Peninsula The Gaspé Peninsula, also known as Gaspesia (, ; ), is a peninsula along the south shore of the St. Lawrence River that extends from the Matapedia Valley in Quebec, Canada, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It is separated from New Brunswick on it ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada, which has its source at Lake Cascapedia, fed by streams of the

Chic-Choc Mountains The Chic-Choc Mountains, also spelled Shick Shocks, form a mountain range in the central region of the Gaspé Peninsula, Gaspe Peninsula in Quebec, Canada. It is a part of the Notre Dame Mountains, which are a List of subranges of the Appalachian ...

, and empties into Cascapedia Bay (''Baie de la Cascapédia''), a small bay of

Chaleur Bay frame, Satellite image of Chaleur Bay (NASA). Chaleur Bay is the large bay in the centre of the image; the Gulf_of_St._Lawrence.html" ;"title="Gaspé Peninsula is to the north and the Gulf of St. Lawrence">Gaspé Peninsula is to the north and t ...

. The river is about long. At times, it is also called Grand Cascapédia River to differentiate it from the Little Cascapédia River which empties into the same bay just to the east. The Cascapedia is known for its

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 Hucho taimen, Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlan ...

(''salmo salar'') fishing. With average catches of and a record catch of , caught in 1886, the river has long been recognized as one of Quebec's richest salmon rivers. Already back in 1835, surveyor Joseph Hamel noted the abundance of fish, including trout, salmon, carp, and whitefish. Several Governors General of Canada, including The Marquess of Lansdowne and Lord Stanley, had summer homes along this river. The river is accessible via Quebec Route 299 that follows the river's course for . Almost its entire course is protected in the Cascapedia River Wildlife Reserve (''réserve faunique de la Rivière-Cascapédia''), established in 1982. Its headwaters and Lake Cascapedia are within the

Gaspésie National Park Gaspésie National Park () is a provincial park located south of the town of Sainte-Anne-des-Monts, Quebec, Canada in the inland of the Gaspé peninsula. The park contains the highest peak of the Appalachian Mountains in Canada, Mont Jacques-Carti ...

Etymology

Its name comes from the

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Mi'kmaw'' or ''Mi'gmaw''; ; , and formerly Micmac) are an Indigenous group of people of the Northeastern Woodlands, native to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, New Bru ...

word ''gesgapegiag'', meaning "strong current" or "large river". It was first documented on a map by Jean-Baptiste-Louis Franquelin in 1686 as ''Kichkabeguiak'', and appeared as ''Kaskabijack'' on a map of 1783. By 1863 Stanislas Drapeau used the current spelling.

Geography

The Cascapédia River is entirely undammed and wild, and no municipality is using it for its wastewater. Because its source is the Chic Choc Mountains that are largely made up of soluble

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

, its waters are rich in

carbonate A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid, (), characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, a polyatomic ion with the formula . The word "carbonate" may also refer to a carbonate ester, an organic compound containing the carbonate group ...

s and low in

sulfate The sulfate or sulphate ion is a polyatomic anion with the empirical formula . Salts, acid derivatives, and peroxides of sulfate are widely used in industry. Sulfates occur widely in everyday life. Sulfates are salts of sulfuric acid and many ...

s and

chloride The term chloride refers to a compound or molecule that contains either a chlorine anion (), which is a negatively charged chlorine atom, or a non-charged chlorine atom covalently bonded to the rest of the molecule by a single bond (). The pr ...

s, with a higher conductivity and pH level than typical water of the

Canadian Shield The Canadian Shield ( ), also called the Laurentian Shield or the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton (or Laurentia), th ...

. The lack of agriculture and industry keep the river free from pollution. Its water is rated of the highest quality. The Cascapedia basin is also mostly undeveloped with less than under cultivation. Logging is more important: 8 percent of the basin area was harvested between 1988 and 1994.

Tributaries

The significant tributaries of the Cascapédia River are (in upstream order): * ''Ruisseau Blanc'' (White Brook) * ''Ruisseau de la Truite'' (Trout Brook) * Angers River ** ''Ruisseau Grand Nord'' (Big North Brook) ** Argument Creek * “Rousseau Joshué” (Joshua’s Brook) * Square Forks River * Berry Brook * ''Branche du Lac'' (Lake Branch) ** ''Ruisseau de l'Échouement'' (Go Ashore Brook) ** ''Ruisseau de Mineurs'' (Miners Brook) ** ''Ruisseau de l'Inlet'' (Inlet Brook) * Brandy Brook * Indian Brook * ''Ruisseau du Dix-Septième Mille'' (Seventeen Mile Brook) * ''Ruisseau aux Saumons'' (Salmon Branch) * Lake Branch

References

External links

Cascapedia Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cascapedia River Rivers of Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine Gaspé Peninsula

Etymology

Geography

Tributaries

See also

References

External links