Environmental Sustainability – Our Commitment

Since acquiring the Salmon Hole Lodge in 1983, I have felt a personal responsibility to keep the LaPoile River valley as clean, natural, and pristine as possible. This sense of stewardship is shared by the employees.  This commitment is taken seriously and has resulted in certain guests (who are careless about their refuse on the river) not being invited back - it’s as simple as that. It seems like common sense that we leave this Earth in a condition that is as good, if not better than it was when we arrived. With this in mind, our approach to environmental sustainability is nothing but common sense.

Salmon Hole Lodge promotes catch-and-release fishing - as its minimal impact on the river’s salmon population is obvious.  Provincial and federal salmon fishing regulations allow anglers to keep up to two small salmon (less than 63 cm in length) – per year - and those of our guests who choose to keep a fish or two to take home to their family are welcome to do so.  All large salmon (greater than 63 cm in length) must be released.  That being said, the vast majority of the fish caught by Salmon Hole Lodge guests are released unharmed.  Salmon Hole Lodge is recognized by the Atlantic Salmon Federation as a “Live Release Camp” for promoting catch and release. 

In our facilities, you will find labelled stations for all recyclable products. All cans, bottles, cartons, assorted plastics, and metals are taken away from our river the same way they were brought in, and are taken to recycling processing centres. This is no small feat considering our remote location.

We are proud to use energy-efficient technologies to provide our power needs at the Salmon Hole Lodge. We make the very most of using sunlight power to our best advantage, and always monitor our usage of electricity. All power is generated on-site, at both camp locations, and is kept to a minimum through the use of Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs, as well as 12V LED light systems that provide building lighting without the need for the generators to operate. Clean burning propane fuels the cook stoves, water heater and refrigerator- all of which are used efficiently. Additionally, to help with transporting materials and guests up and down the river, our investment in an emission-compliant and fuel-efficient Polaris Ranger (ATV) has followed suit with our effort to minimize our impact on the land and the river.

The Salmon Hole Lodge helps to support the social sustainability of its neighbouring communities, and has benefited its local economy for over 25 years. Our building supplies and fuel are purchased in the nearby towns of Port-Aux Basques and Burgeo. The vast majority of groceries and general supplies are purchased in LaPoile, the closest community to the LaPoile River.  Even the homemade bread we serve is made fresh in LaPoile. By doing this, we can reduce the distance our supplies must be transported, thereby decreasing fuel consumption and other transportation costs.  All employees of Salmon Hole Lodge are residents of LaPoile - where employment opportunities are known to be scarce.  Even though Salmon Hole Lodge is not a large company, the economies of LaPoile, Port-Aux-Basques and Burgeo benefit from our presence.

Our laundry services are completely environmentally safe and energy neutral – mainly because we have no washers or dryers at Salmon Hole Lodge!  If you fish in the rain (or fall in the river) and your clothes get wet, we offer solar-powered drying facilities in the form of a clothesline.

Our water supply is environmentally friendly in that we are not connected to a municipal water supply, nor do we rely on energy-consuming pumps to deliver well water to the surface.  All water requirements at both of our camp locations – for drinking, cooking, cleaning, toilets and showers – are met by using naturally occurring, gravity-fed water from nearby brooks. And we use only what we need.  While some people choose to drink this water straight from the tap, Salmon Hole Lodge provides drinking water that uses PUR brand water filtration systems.  These non-chemical filters are designed to remove potentially harmful contaminants such as cryptosporidium and giardia.  Filter cartridges are replaced on a routine schedule as per the manufacturer’s recommendation.

Our sewage treatment systems (one at each camp location) consist of properly sized septic tanks and septic fields.  This eliminates any risk of untreated human sewage from entering either the drinking water supply or the home of our fish – the LaPoile River.

In the early 1980’s, the spruce budworm devastated much of the LaPoile River valley’s forest.  The affects of this infestation are still visible as many of the dead spruce trees remain standing.  We take advantage of Mother Nature’s work by cutting these dead trees into firewood and burning them to provide the sole source of heat for both of our camps.

In the late 1980’s, a reforestation project was conducted by Salmon Hole Lodge.  Several hundreds of seedlings were planted by hand – white pine, Scotch pine, red spruce and Sitka spruce.  Several of these seedlings have thrived, are now reproducing naturally and are adding to the ecological diversity of our forest.  The original spruce and fir population (that escaped the budworm) continue to regenerate naturally as do the hardwoods that were unaffected by the budworm.

Looking back over the past 25 years, I feel proud of the minimal impact the Salmon Hole Lodge has had on its local ecosystem. The guides and I have been consistent about enforcing the angling regulations and have been responsible stewards of the river valley.  Our commitment to environmental responsibility began long before the recent popular trends to reduce ecological impacts.  This may be one reason why our river’s salmon and trout populations are in good shape relative to those of other rivers in the area. With this being said, there is always room for continual improvement in anything, which is why we regularly evaluate the progress and direction of our environmental goals.

We always welcome any suggestions you may have for minimizing our impact on our environment. 



Owner, Salmon Hole Lodge