708
European contact. Oral histories allude to salt marshes being used seasonally by the
Mi’kmaq people with seasonal encampments along marsh edges.
European exploration of the region began prior to 1600, with French colonists
and their descendants (the Acadians) settling in the Minas Basin region starting in
the mid-1600s (Butzer 2002; Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture and Marketing
1987). The colonists brought with them marsh diking technology utilized in France.
Coastal marshes are extremely fertile areas and were seen as excellent potential
farmland; so, the Acadians began to build dike systems complete with “aboiteaux”,
equivalent to modern-day sluice gates. The aboiteaux were important in enabling
water on the land to drain, without letting seawater in, thus allowing soil salinity to
diminish and traditional crops to grow successfully. Rapid reclamation of marshlands had begun with 24 aboiteaux by 1650, an extensive dike system by 1671
(Butzer 2002), and new settlements and additional dike networks starting in the
Chignecto Bay region in 1672 (Mount Allison University Archives 2004). English
and American colonists in the latter half of the eighteenth century also influenced
the history of the dikelands (Mount Allison University Archives 2004; Nova Scotia
Department of Agriculture and Marketing 1987).
During the “hay day” period for the marshes (early twentieth century), new technologies in ditching, diking and drainage were developed, leading to additional reclamation of marsh habitat for agriculture at the expense of pristine salt marsh
complexes (Mount Allison University Archives 2004; Nova Scotia Department of
Agriculture and Marketing 1987). The increase in automobile use in the 1920s and
1930s, led to the decrease in demand for hay and a lowering of hay prices from $28
to $7/ton. During this time period, agricultural areas of reclaimed salt marsh were
abandoned entirely or reutilized as cattle pasture. During the Great Depression,
minimal funds were allocated to the maintenance of the dike systems, which led to
several cases of passive restoration. Post WWII, industrial advancements paired
with increased value of coastal land led to revamping of dike systems to reclaim
large sections of coastal habitat for other uses such as transportation and
infrastructure.
21.1.3 Salt Marsh Restoration
As much as 85% of the original salt marsh has been lost in the Bay of Fundy since
the arrival of early European colonists (Hanson and Calkins 1996; Thomas 1983).
Due to the substantial historical loss and the numerous ecosystem services that salt
marshes provide (Gedan et al. 2009; Chmura et al. 2012), there has been growing
interest in restoring these systems. Over the last decade, there have been several
coastal wetland restoration projects in Atlantic Canada (Bowron et al. 2012), most
of which were in the Bay of Fundy. These projects were largely in response to compensation needs in support of wetland policies (van Proosdij et al. 2014) or to offset
fish habitat loss. Many of these restoration projects were designed and actively
L.K. Boone et al.
European contact. Oral histories allude to salt marshes being used seasonally by the
Mi’kmaq people with seasonal encampments along marsh edges.
European exploration of the region began prior to 1600, with French colonists
and their descendants (the Acadians) settling in the Minas Basin region starting in
the mid-1600s (Butzer 2002; Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture and Marketing
1987). The colonists brought with them marsh diking technology utilized in France.
Coastal marshes are extremely fertile areas and were seen as excellent potential
farmland; so, the Acadians began to build dike systems complete with “aboiteaux”,
equivalent to modern-day sluice gates. The aboiteaux were important in enabling
water on the land to drain, without letting seawater in, thus allowing soil salinity to
diminish and traditional crops to grow successfully. Rapid reclamation of marshlands had begun with 24 aboiteaux by 1650, an extensive dike system by 1671
(Butzer 2002), and new settlements and additional dike networks starting in the
Chignecto Bay region in 1672 (Mount Allison University Archives 2004). English
and American colonists in the latter half of the eighteenth century also influenced
the history of the dikelands (Mount Allison University Archives 2004; Nova Scotia
Department of Agriculture and Marketing 1987).
During the “hay day” period for the marshes (early twentieth century), new technologies in ditching, diking and drainage were developed, leading to additional reclamation of marsh habitat for agriculture at the expense of pristine salt marsh
complexes (Mount Allison University Archives 2004; Nova Scotia Department of
Agriculture and Marketing 1987). The increase in automobile use in the 1920s and
1930s, led to the decrease in demand for hay and a lowering of hay prices from $28
to $7/ton. During this time period, agricultural areas of reclaimed salt marsh were
abandoned entirely or reutilized as cattle pasture. During the Great Depression,
minimal funds were allocated to the maintenance of the dike systems, which led to
several cases of passive restoration. Post WWII, industrial advancements paired
with increased value of coastal land led to revamping of dike systems to reclaim
large sections of coastal habitat for other uses such as transportation and
infrastructure.
21.1.3 Salt Marsh Restoration
As much as 85% of the original salt marsh has been lost in the Bay of Fundy since
the arrival of early European colonists (Hanson and Calkins 1996; Thomas 1983).
Due to the substantial historical loss and the numerous ecosystem services that salt
marshes provide (Gedan et al. 2009; Chmura et al. 2012), there has been growing
interest in restoring these systems. Over the last decade, there have been several
coastal wetland restoration projects in Atlantic Canada (Bowron et al. 2012), most
of which were in the Bay of Fundy. These projects were largely in response to compensation needs in support of wetland policies (van Proosdij et al. 2014) or to offset
fish habitat loss. Many of these restoration projects were designed and actively
L.K. Boone et al.