The Mitis River ( French : Rivière Mitis ) is a salmon river in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec, Canada. It flows to the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River . There are two hydroelectric dams on the river at a point where a waterfall used to prevent salmon from going further upstream. A system to capture and transport salmon upstream was installed in 1965, and the river now has a healthy salmon population along its whole length.
18-607: The Mitis River originates in Lake Mitis in the Notre Dame Mountains , at an elevation of 305 metres (1,001 ft). Lake Mitis is a large reservoir 25 kilometres (16 mi) long formed from the Superior, Croix and Inferior lakes. The Mitis dam and the hamlet of Lac-Mitis are at the source of the river. The river is swelled by many tributaries as it flows north for 74 kilometres (46 mi). Towards its mouth, in
36-557: A ZEC ( zone d'exploitation contrôlée : controlled use zone), Zec de la Rivière-Mitis , managed by the Mitis River Sport Fishing Management Corporation. There are three fishing areas, one private and the other two open to the public, with 33 pools, mostly fished with waders. The ZEC de la rivière Mitis covers about 20 kilometres (12 mi) of the river. Lake Mitis has a large population of lake trout ( Salvelinus namaycush ). Brook trout
54-772: A dozen camping sites beside the Saint Lawrence. The river is one of 22 salmon rivers in the Gaspé Peninsula . Historians think that the Malécites / Maliseet Indians fished for eel and salmon at the mouth of the river, although they may not have had permanent villages. Fish are numerous, and include Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ), longnose dace ( Rhinichthys cataractae ), Eastern blacknose dace ( Rhinichthys atratulus ), slimy sculpin ( Cottus cognatus ), American eel ( Anguilla rostrata ) and brook trout ( Salvelinus fontinalis ). George Stephen , co-founder of
72-526: Is French for "Our Lady," a Catholic term referring to the Virgin Mary . While on an expedition on 15 August 1535, Jacques Cartier wrote: Le landemain jour Notre Dame d'aoust XVe ... eusmes cognoissance de terres qui nous demouroient vers le su qui est une terre à haultes montaignes à merveilles The jour Notre Dame d'aoust XVe refers to the feast of the Assumption of Mary , commemorated in
90-622: Is found in Lake Mitis and in several water bodies and streams in the region. In May 2015 the Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks of Quebec announced a sport fishing catch-and-release program for large salmon on sixteen of Quebec's 118 salmon rivers. These were the Mitis, Laval , Pigou , Bouleau , aux Rochers , Jupitagon , Magpie , Saint-Jean , Corneille , Piashti , Watshishou , Little Watshishou , Nabisipi , Aguanish and Natashquan rivers. The Quebec Atlantic Salmon Federation said that
108-582: The Canadian Pacific Railway , established the first fishing camp on the river in 1886. His niece Elsie Reford converted the camp into the Jardins de Métis. At that time salmon could only reach 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) upstream, where they were stopped by a 35 metres (115 ft) waterfall. Salmon were also affected until 1979 by logs being floated downstream. The river was opened to the public for salmon fishing in 1977. In 1993 it became
126-640: The Price municipality near Mont-Joli , the river meanders before being crossed by the Mitis-1 and Mitis-2 dams. It ends in the Baie Mitis on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence. Its mouth is near Sainte-Flavie , about 32 kilometres (20 mi) east of Rimouski . The Mitis River is between the Matane and Rimouski rivers. It gives its name to La Mitis Regional County Municipality . The main tributaries are
144-480: The Catholic Church on 15 August. The following autumn, maps he authored carried the name " haultes montaignes de Honguedo." However, it was the title of "Notre Dame" that would propagate quickly throughout the 16th century, with French navigator Jean Alfonse referring to them as the " montz Nostre Dame " in his 1544 work Cosmographie , followed by Gerardus Mercator in 1569. The Notre Dame Mountains are
162-501: The Elsie Reford Falls and had a dam built above the falls. On 22 October 1922 the 2.75 MW turbine came into service. It was formally inaugurated in a ceremony on 1 July 1923 attended by various notables. The company grew into the largest power supplier in the region with a network of transmission lines serving Matane, Mont-Joli, Rimouski and beyond. A 3 MW turbine was added in 1930. The second dam, now called Mitis-2,
180-478: The Neigette and Mistigougèche rivers. The average flow is 16 cubic metres per second (570 cu ft/s), a steady rate due to the two dams built in the first half of the 20th century. The river can be accessed from a path that runs along its length. The river bed has fairly large rocks and red clay, but little gravel. The clay gives the clear river water a slightly reddish tinge after a heavy rainfall. The name
198-507: The Quebec Sépaq and New Brunswick: This Quebec location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This New Brunswick location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Maine state location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This New Hampshire state location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about
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#1732772494435216-620: The measures did not go nearly far enough in protecting salmon for future generations. In view of the rapidly declining Atlantic salmon population catch-and-release should have been implemented on all rivers apart from northern Quebec. Notre Dame Mountains The Notre Dame Mountains are a portion of the Appalachian Mountains , extending from the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec to the Green Mountains of Vermont . The range runs from northeast to southwest, forming
234-491: The mouth of the Neigette River. With this change the salmon population grew rapidly from an estimated 20 fish in 1965 to 1,200 by 1992. The river is used for fishing, canoeing and swimming. Inflatable boats can be used to descend the river from the lake. The Parc de la Rivière Mitis is opposite the historical Jardins de Métis . The regional park has just over 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) of hiking trails. It also provides
252-755: The primary subranges of the Notre Dame Mountains. They are located in the northeastern part of the Gaspé Peninsula and are home to the tallest mountain in the range, Mont Jacques-Cartier , with an elevation of 1,268 m (4,160 ft). The other major subsection of the Notre Dame Mountains is the Massif du Sud , which is found in the southern part of the range, southeast of Quebec City , and reaches an elevation of 915 m (3,002 ft). The Notre Dame Mountains are protected by several parks, both federally by Parks Canada and provincially by
270-639: The principal subrange of the Appalachian Mountains in Quebec. Within Quebec, the range parallels the St. Lawrence River until its terminus at the eastern end of the Gaspé Peninsula. However, the southern limit of the range is the subject of some debate, though some sources consider either Lake Memphremagog or the US border as the southern edge of the Notre Dame Mountains. The Chic-Choc Mountains are one of
288-728: The southern edge of the St. Lawrence River valley, and following the Canada–United States border between Quebec and Maine . The mountainous New Brunswick "panhandle" is located in the Notre Dame range as well as the uppermost reaches of the Connecticut River valley in New Hampshire . As the mountains are geologically old , they have eroded to an average height of around 600 m (2,000 ft). Notre Dame
306-409: Was completed in 1947 below the first dam. In 1963 the government of Quebec nationalized the production of electricity and created Hydro-Québec as a public utility, which took over management of the Mitis-1 and Mitis-2 dams. In 1965 a salmon capture station was installed at the foot of Mitis-2, with a system to transport the fish above the dams to a point about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) upstream near
324-657: Was given by the Listuguj Miꞌgmaq First Nation of Restigouche , who used to use it as a route to the Saint Lawrence. It appears in the title deed of the Seigneurie de Mitis , dated 6 May 1675. In the early 20th century Jules-André Brillant (1888–1973), a local entrepreneur, formed the Compagnie de Pouvoir du Bas-Saint-Laurent (Lower Saint Lawrence Power Company). He found investors in Rimouski, purchased
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