The Trinité River (, ), or Grande Trinité River is a river in the

Côte-Nord Côte-Nord (Region 09) (, ; ) is an List of regions of Quebec, administrative region of Quebec, on the Quebec-Labrador peninsula, Quebec-Labrador Peninsula, Canada. The region runs along the St. Lawrence River and then the Gulf of St. Lawrence, ...

region of Quebec, Canada. Salmon fishing is allowed, subject to limits.

Course

The Trinité River is in Baie-Trinité, Manicouagan, Quebec. It is long. The river runs through a winding valley in 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 ...

before entering the

Gulf of Saint Lawrence The Gulf of St. Lawrence is a gulf that fringes the shores of the provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, in Canada, plus the islands Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, possessions of France, in ...

beside the village of Baie-Trinité. There are a few small lakes in the northern, Sept-Rivieres part of the river basin, including Lac Washamahwun, Lac Lanctot, Lac Rimouski and Lac Fox. The river flows slowly through 67 shallow fishing holes interspersed with large rocks, with a steeper section near the end where it runs faster. The river is accessible from

Quebec Route 138 Route 138 is a major highway in the Canadian province of Quebec, following the entire north shore of the St. Lawrence River past Montreal to the temporary eastern terminus in Kegashka on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The western terminus is in E ...

Environment

A map of the

Ecological regions of Quebec The Ecological regions of Quebec are regions with specific types of vegetation and climates as defined by the Quebec Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks. Given the size of this huge province, there is wide variation from the temperate deciduou ...

shows the upper portion of the river rising and flowing south through the eastern spruce/moss domain of the boreal zone. Most of the river flows through the fir/white birch domain of the boreal zone. The average annual temperature in the region is . The warmest month is August, when the average temperature is , and the coldest is February, with .

Dam

Salmon use the fish ladder at the Grande Trinité River dam to reach the upper part of the river. This was an old wooden structure built in 1929. It collapsed in May 2009 and a CDN$4.5 million project was started to build a replacement concrete structure. As part of the process

cofferdam A cofferdam is an enclosure built within a body of water to allow the enclosed area to be pumped out or drained. This pumping creates a dry working environment so that the work can be carried out safely. Cofferdams are commonly used for constru ...

s were built upstream and downstream. The fish could still pass, but fishing was disrupted.

Fishing

Most of the river is managed for recreational fishing by the Zec de la Rivière-de-la-Trinité, which provides campsites, cabins and boat rentals. Every year 700 to 800 salmon return. The healthy salmon population is an important attraction to visitors. There are also sea trout. The fishing season is from June to mid-September.

Management regimes

The Saint-Lawrence Paper company held the exclusive fishing rights to the Grande Trinité and Petite Trinité rivers from the 1930s until the early 1960s, when it sold them to

Domtar Domtar Corporation is a leading, privately held manufacturer of diversified forest products, with a workforce of roughly 14,000 employees in more than 60 locations across North America. While Domtar operated independently for several decades a ...

. The river was used by wealthy Domtar executives and their guests until May 1976, when it was released to the non-profit Baie-Trinité Development Corporation in May 1976 in response to pressure from the people of Baie-Trinité. In 1978 the Baie-Trinité fishing and hunting reserve was created to cover the of territory between the existing Rivière-Trinité and Petite-Trinité reserves. The Rivière-Trinité reserve became the Zone d'exploitation controlée (Zec) Rivière de la Trinité. In 1982 the Grande Trinité River was considered a representative salmon river of the upper Côte-Nord, and became an "experimental river" where researchers began to study salmon.

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Trinité River Rivers of Côte-Nord