Zec de la Rivière-York

The Zec York River is a "zone d'exploitation controlée" (controlled harvesting zone) (zec) located in the unorganized territory Rivière-Saint-Jean, in La Côte-de-Gaspé Regional County Municipality (RCM), in the administrative region Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine, in Quebec, in Canada. The ZEC specializes in salmon fishing.

Geography
"Zec de la Rivière-York" is a salmon zec, located in the heart of the Gaspésie Peninsula, in the wild and in uninhabited region. Zec de la Rivière-York is 94.1 km long and is easily accessible by the highway 198 that crosses the La Côte-de-Gaspé Regional County Municipality, east to west through Murdochville.

Like most major rivers of the Gaspésie Peninsula, the York River rises in the mountains around Murdochville, in the heart of Chic-Choc Mountains, in the center of the Gaspésie Peninsula. The panorama of mountains attract visitors. The York River is a typical salmon rivers of Gaspésie, with water tinted green because of the minerals in suspension, the constant level of the river and a rapid current.

From Murdochville, the York River flows at first south-east before turning north to make a big loop in the Collines-du-Basque. Then the river goes more or less in parallel (on north side) to the St. John River. Going down the river passes on the edge of zec York-Baillargeon, located around Lake Baillargeon. Then the river empties into the large bay at York Gaspé. In short, the zec York has the form of a long narrow strip that covers almost the entire length of the York River between Murdochville and Gaspé.

Salmon fishing
Zec de la Rivière-York attracts "saumeniers" throughout America especially because of its mountain scenery and the size of salmon caught in it cold and clear waters. The York River, which is popular with salmon anglers, is segmented into eleven fishing quotas are seven. Typically, salmon pools are easily accessible along its entire length by the Highway 198. The York River has 6 species of fish, including the salmon, the brook trout, the American eel, the stickleback on banded killifish and smelt arc-en-ciel.

History
The York River is famous for migration of heavy weight salmon.

1870: The chronicles of the time report that fishermen like the Governor General of Canada, Lord Dufferin and his wife regularly take, season after season, salmon of 11 to 14 kg. At that time, the exclusive fishing rights belong to the purveyor Thomas Reynolds from Ottawa.

1970: The water rights of the York River pass into the hands of the York River Fishing Club. In 1977, a section of about 16 km is open to the public under the Government of Quebec.

1980: Government of Quebec opens the fishing public for the entire route of the York River. Zec de la rivièreYork is then established.

1981 Agreements are concluded with various landowners for zec extends over almost the entire territory.

Toponymy
The toponym Zec de la Rivière-York was officialized on September 5, 1985 at the Bank of Place names of Commission de toponymie du Québec (Geographical Names Board of Quebec).

Articles connexes

 * Gaspé, a city
 * Gaspésie
 * La Côte-de-Gaspé Regional County Municipality (MRC)
 * Rivière-Saint-Jean (La Côte-de-Gaspé), unorganized territory
 * Zone d'exploitation contrôlée (controlled harvesting zone) (ZEC)