| Summary: | The members of the Wolastoqiyik Wahsipekuk First Nation based in Cacouna would like to be able to harvest and consume the blue mussels that are abundant on the shores of the St. Lawrence Estuary in their ancestral territory. However, federal laws communicated by Fisheries and Oceans Canada posters prohibit their harvesting. A pilot project was therefore created between the First Nation and the collective Manger notre Saint-Laurent to help them reopen a blue mussel harvesting area in a sustainable and safe manner. The objectives were to identify the issues associated with mussel harvesting in the scientific documentation and to co-develop a decision tree to guide the First Nation in the eventual reopening of a shellfish harvesting area. Depending on the results, mussel harvesting may be compromised by resource conservation and/or safety issues. For harvesting to be sustainable and safe, it is important to validate that the resource is sufficiently abundant and productive (biomass, density, productivity rate) to ensure the sustainability of the resource despite harvesting, to verify the proximity of certain human facilities to reduce the risks of contamination, and to monitor certain contaminants (fecal coliforms, marine biotoxins) to ensure the safety of the harvest. Once these steps have been completed, an area can be opened up for harvesting by communicating regulations and good harvesting practices (minimum pick size, daily quotas, etc.) to contribute to the sustainability of harvesting. When blue mussel harvesting is practiced in a sustainable and safe manner, it brings community members closer to the food resources of the St. Lawrence River (Province of Quebec, Canada). Les membres de la Première Nation Wolastoqiyik Wahsipekuk basée à Cacouna aimeraient pouvoir cueillir et consommer les moules bleues présentes en abondance sur les rives de l’estuaire du Saint-Laurent dans leur territoire ancestral. Cependant, les lois fédérales communiquées par des affiches de Pêches et Océans Canada en interdisent la ...
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