The Bonaventure River is one of Quebec’s jewels and protecting it is extremely important. 

The Bonaventure River is, according to many people, Quebec’s most beautiful river. 120 km long, it was originally called Wagamet, meaning clear water, no name could suit it better. Crystal clear waters, the river is full of salmon, only adding to its beauty. The ZEC of the Bonaventure (Zone d’Exploitation Contrôlée) is very protective of their beautiful river and prohibits forest management activities as well as projects likely to damage the watercourse.  

Arguments are unfortunately happening over the river. Cime Aventures accused the ZEC of the Bonaventure’s fishermen of dangerously making canoeists go out of their original path to avoid salmon pits. This would be the cause of many collisions between the river’s edge and canoes, making it less safe for Cime Aventures’ clients to canoe. “We don’t want to be arguing over the river. That’s not our goal, not at all.” Bonaventure’s ZEC’s president reminded people. 

On the other side, Cime Aventures’ clients have been observed not respecting the rules and without any experience canoeing down the river. Guides from the ZEC of the Bonaventure have witnessed different cases where clients were freaking out from their lack of experience or where 4 months old babies were in the canoes. One should  know that the river has white water sections that are hard to maneuver safely.

Cime Aventures has received numerous complaints about the events witnessed by guides and fishermen. Trash in the river, the rising number of canoes and the lack of experience coming from the people canoeing are the cause of these complaints. “2021’s season was in as problematic as 2020’s image, we received more than 50 complaints coming from sport fishermen, riparian owners and people going down the river. These mainly concerned the lack of supervision and safety surrounding Cime Aventures’ recreational activities” mentioned the general director of the ZEC of the Bonaventure. Cime Aventures however abstained from commenting on the subject: “This case is currently before the courts, we prefer not to comment at this time.” affirmed Cime Aventures’ general director. 

Either way we have to keep in mind that we are extremely privileged to have this beautiful river. We just have to respect it as well as one another.