Saint-Jean River (Minganie)

The Saint-Jean River rises at about 500 metres (1,600 ft) above sea level in the southwest of Labrador. It runs through rugged terrain for 240 kilometres (150 mi) to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. The river's mouth is 160 kilometres (99 mi) east of Sept-Îles.[1] The mouth of the river is in the municipality of Rivière-Saint-Jean in the Minganie Regional County Municipality. At its mouth the river is crossed by Quebec Route 138, then flows past the village of Rivière-Saint-Jean.[2]

The river basin covers 5,599 square kilometres (2,162 sq mi). It lies between the basins of the Magpie River and the Mingan River.[3] It includes parts of the unorganized territory of Lac-Jérôme and the municipality of Longue-Pointe-de-Mingan..[4]

According to the Dictionnaire des rivières et lacs de la province de Québec (1914),

This river of Saguenay County flows through the Laurentians and empties into the Gulf of St. Laurent about 70 miles down from the Moisie River, and 385 miles from Quebec. It is navigable for canoes for a stretch of thirty miles up to a powerful waterfall that interrupts navigation. The shores from its mouth to about three miles are, according to the surveyor CE Forgues (1885), clay cliffs on which there is a layer of sand mixed with black earth, which makes this land suitable for growing potatoes and oats. The same clay extends along the coast for up to fifteen miles, but the terrain is not as good. The main trees are white spruce, fir, birch, alder and willow. The climate is very healthy, but summer is short. According to Mr. H. de Puyjalon, it is a salmon river of the first order. The hunting territories are also of great value. Between the two estuaries of the river there is a large plateau of good land on which the village of St. Jean is built, which has a population of 250 souls. The Robin House here has a large cod fishing establishment.[5]

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 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.[6]

The Pourvoirie de la Haute Saint-Jean has exclusive rights to three fishing areas with 55 pools along 30 kilometres (19 mi) of the Saint-Jean and 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) of the Salmon River (Rivière aux Saumons).[1] Between 2012 and 2016 the annual average reported catch of salmon was 123 juveniles and 28 large fish, with 412 returned to the water.[7]