When you meet someone on the river wearing the River Watch crest, shake hands and introduce yourself. You have met a friend - A friend to you and to the fish. River Watch is a voluntary fisheries monitoring program established jointly by the Nova Scotia Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture and the Nova Scotia Salmon Association and its affiliates with funding from the Canada/Nova Scotia Cooperation Agreement on Economic Diversification.

The overall objective of the River Watch program in Nova Scotia is to help the government carry out its mandate to protect aquatic habitats throughout the province; by providing sufficient information for participants to develop an ecosystems approach to the recreational fishery and encourage anglers, landowners, and other members of the general public to join government in the enforcement of regulations designed to protect fish and their habitats.

Each Spring River Associations, angling and environmental groups across Nova Scotia act as hosts groups for the program. They recruit volunteers and hold one-day training sessions for the participants. The training session focuses on the proper observing, recording and reporting of violations, habitat issues, communication, the link between the community and the watershed and promotion of the sport fishing industry with regards to both traditional and underutilized species. Each participant is provided with a River Watch manual, hat, crest; log book and public relations cards.

The principle benefits of the River Watch program are that there now exists an increasing volunteer monitoring effort that fosters an increased pride within the angling community as participants take a more active role in sport fisheries management.

To find out more about the program or to become a River Watch Fisheries Monitor contact us or the Nova Scotia Department of Inland Fisheries.