Plan St-Laurent - Pour un développement durable

10:00 a.m. – The St. Lawrence Beluga: Evolution of Its Contamination and Role as a Sentinal Species

Speaker: Michel Lebeuf, Maurice-Lamontagne Institute, Fisheries and Oceans Canada..

Because of intense commercial hunting, the St. Lawrence Beluga population has undergone a drastic decline. Since the ban of all forms of hunting in 1979, the population has remained stable, and a significant increase was expected. One of the possible causes for the difficulty of this population to become re-established could be related to its exposure to contaminants in its habitat. The results of monitoring contamination in the tissues of the beluga show lower contaminant levels, but also higher levels over the past 20 years. We conclude that the beluga should act as a sentinel species to detect the presence of contaminants coming out in its habitat.

Place: Auditorium du Musée de la civilisation
Free entry

11:00 a.m. – The Chemical Contamination of the St. Lawrence

Speakers : Bernard Rondeau and Magella Pelletier, St. Lawrence Centre, Environment Canada.

Over the past 20 years, the various up industrial and urban sanitation programs and the many measures put in place for reducing sources of contamination have considerably lowered the concentrations of traditional contaminants in the river, such as metals and PCBs. However, over the past few years, we have seen an increase in the concentrations of new substances and the presence of pharmaceutical and personal care products, which represent a new environmental challenge, since their effects on the aquatic ecosystem are still largely unknown.

Place: Auditorium du Musée de la civilisation
Free entry

1:30 p.m. – 150 years of Dredging and Changes to the St. Lawrence River Waterbed

Speaker: Jean Morin, Environment Canada, Canadian Meteorological Service.

The St. Lawrence River was set up for navigation and energy production over 150 years ago. The geographic-temporal distribution of the work carried out since 1844 was pieced together using many archival documents. Topographic data digitization and knowledge of the modified zones have allowed us to reproduce the original shape of the river as it was during the pre-industrial period, as well as its changing shape until today. Analyzing these transformations has allowed us for the first time to show the impact of dredging on the different levels of the St. Lawrence.

Place: Auditorium du Musée de la civilisation
Free entry

2:30 p.m. - Swimming in the St. Lawrence: Dream or Reality?

Speaker: Serge Hébert, Ministère du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et des Parcs du Québec (Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks).

Swimming in the St. Lawrence is a one of the most desired activities by the people. Since the 1980s, Quebec has made considerable efforts to clean household wastewater. In general, the bacteriological quality of river water and water in the St. Lawrence has improved. Some beaches that had been closed years ago due to poor water conditions are now safe and once again accessible to the public. Other areas, however, remain closed to swimming, and, in certain cases, to all recreational uses that involve contact with the water.

Place: Auditorium du Musée de la civilisation
Free entry

3:30 p.m. – Sport and Commercial Fishing in the St. Lawrence: A Short History and Progress Report in 2008

Speakers: Marc Mingelbier, Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune du Québec (Quebec Natural Resources and Wildlife), and Réjean Dufour, Maurice-Lamontagne Institute, Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

The freshwater portion of the St. Lawrence River is home to more than 100 local or migratory species of fish, and its saltwater portion (estuary and golf combined) has more than 50 species that are fished commercially. Some fish stocks are healthy; others show a troubling decline. The lecture presents a brief history and progress report of freshwater and saltwater fishing in 2008, and gives an overview of the changes that have taken place in the Gulf of St. Lawrence since 1993-1994, i.e., since the moratorium on fishing certain ground fish, such as cod.

Place: Auditorium du Musée de la civilisation
Free entry

PERISCOPE: Film Programming

Series 1 – Le Saint-Laurent, un fleuve, à l'égal du Nil et de l'Amazone  (French only)

7:00 p.m. - Inescapable Nature
A maritime highway, and the economic lungs of the North the St. Lawrence was and is a trade route. The Aboriginals shot through its rapids in birch canoes. The French dug out channels for towing five-tonne boats, and the British built the first canals with locks. This documentary tells the story of an economic conquest underlying the entire history of Canada.

Place:: Auditorium of the Musée de la civilisation
Free entry