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; moe, Notiskuan; mic, Natigostec , sobriquet = , image_name = RiviereHuileAnticosti.jpg , image_caption = Salmon fisherman on Rivière à l'Huile , image_map = , map_alt = , map_size = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Canada Quebec , pushpin_label = , pushpin_label_position = , pushpin_map_alt = , pushpin_relief = , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , etymology = , location = Gulf of Saint Lawrence , grid_reference = , archipelago = , waterbody = , total_islands = , major_islands = , area_km2 = 7,953.20 , area_footnotes = , rank = , length_km = 222 , length_footnotes = , width_km = 56 , width_footnotes = , coastline_km = , coastline_footnotes = , elevation_m = , elevation_footnotes = , highest_mount = , country = Canada , country_admin_divisions_title = Province , country_admin_divisions = Quebec , country_admin_divisions_title_1 = Region , country_admin_divisions_1 =
Côte-Nord Côte-Nord (, ; ; land area ) is the second-largest administrative region by land area in Quebec, Canada, after Nord-du-Québec. It covers much of the northern shore of the Saint Lawrence River estuary and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence past T ...
, country_admin_divisions_title_2 = County , country_admin_divisions_2 = Minganie , country_capital_type = , country_capital = , country_largest_city_type = Municipality , country_largest_city = L'Île-d'Anticosti , country_capital_and_largest_city = , country_largest_city_population = , country_leader_title = , country_leader_name = , country_area_km2 = , demonym = , population = 218 , population_as_of =
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh c ...
, population_footnotes = , population_rank = , population_rank_max = , density_km2 = , density_rank = , density_footnotes = , languages = , ethnic_groups = , timezone1 = , utc_offset1 = , timezone1_DST = , utc_offset1_DST = , website = , additional_info = , footnotes = Anticosti Island (french: Île d'Anticosti; moe, Notiskuan; mic, Natigostec) is an island in the
Minganie Regional County Municipality Minganie is a regional county municipality in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, Canada. It includes Anticosti Island. Its seat is Havre-Saint-Pierre. It has an area of according to Quebec's ''Ministère des Affaires municipales, des Régions e ...
, in administrative region of
Côte-Nord Côte-Nord (, ; ; land area ) is the second-largest administrative region by land area in Quebec, Canada, after Nord-du-Québec. It covers much of the northern shore of the Saint Lawrence River estuary and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence past T ...
, the province of Quebec, Canada. This island is located at the outlet of the
St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting t ...
into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, between 49° and 50° N., and between 61° 40' and 64° 30' W. At in size, it is the 90th largest island in the world and 20th largest island in Canada. Anticosti Island is separated on the north from the Côte-Nord region of Quebec (the
Labrador Peninsula The Labrador Peninsula, or Quebec-Labrador Peninsula, is a large peninsula in eastern Canada. It is bounded by the Hudson Bay to the west, the Hudson Strait to the north, the Labrador Sea to the east, and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the so ...
) by the
Jacques Cartier Strait The Jacques Cartier Strait ( French: ''Détroit de Jacques-Cartier'') is a strait in eastern Quebec, Canada, flowing between Anticosti Island and the Labrador Peninsula. It is one of the two outlets of the Saint Lawrence River into its estuary, the ...
, and on the south from the Gaspé Peninsula by the
Honguedo Strait The Honguedo Strait ( French: ''Détroit d'Honguedo'') is a strait in eastern Quebec, Canada, flowing between Anticosti Island and the Gaspé Peninsula. It is one of the two outlets of the Saint Lawrence River into its estuary, the Gulf of Saint L ...
. Anticosti Island is larger than Prince Edward Island but sparsely populated (218 people in
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh c ...
), with most of the permanent population in the village of
Port-Menier Port-Menier, Quebec is a small fishing town located on the western end of Anticosti Island, Quebec, Canada, part of the L'Île-d'Anticosti municipality. The port village was built during the late 19th century by French chocolate maker Henri Meni ...
on the western tip of the island, consisting chiefly of the keepers of the
lighthouses A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...
erected by the Canadian government. The entire island constitutes one municipality known as L'Île-d'Anticosti. Due to more than 400 shipwrecks off its coasts, Anticosti Island is sometimes called the "Cemetery of the Gulf".''Parc national d'Anticosti - Park Journal 2008-2009 Edition'', Parcs Québec


Geography

Anticosti Island is part of the eastern Saint Lawrence lowlands. It is long and has a maximum breadth of – times as large as the province of Prince Edward Island. Its coastline is long, and is rocky and dangerous, offering little shelter for ships except in Gamache, Ellis, and Fox Bays. There are large shoals to the south. The largest lake on the island is
Lake Wickenden Lake Wickenden (''French: Lac Wickenden'') is the largest lake on Anticosti Island, located in the municipality of L'Île-d'Anticosti, in the Saint Lawrence River, in the Minganie Regional County Municipality, in the region administration of the ...
, which feeds the Jupiter River. There are numerous rivers on Anticosti, many of which flow through deep gorges and canyons to the north and south shores. Topographically, Anticosti Island can be divided into three distinct regions: two lowland areas, rarely exceeding in elevation, in the eastern and western thirds of the island linked along the coast; and a central highland forming a plateau that rises to just over . This plateau is an unidirectional structure slightly tilted to the south, and is characterized by rolling
cuesta A cuesta (from Spanish ''cuesta'' "slope") is a hill or ridge with a gentle slope on one side, and a steep slope on the other. In geology the term is more specifically applied to a ridge where a harder sedimentary rock overlies a softer layer ...
s. The rocks exposed on the island form a continuous sedimentary stratum more than thick. These are the most complete strata in eastern North America of the
Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period million years ago (Mya) to the start of the Silurian Period Mya. The ...
and Silurian periods. The main rivers are: South shore of Anticosti Island (from west to east): *
Plantain River The Plantain River (''French: Rivière Plantain'') is a tributary of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, flowing in the municipality of L'Île-d'Anticosti, in the Minganie Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of Côte-Nord, in provi ...
*
Gamache River (Anticosti Island) The Gamache River (''French: Rivière Gamache'') is a tributary of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, flowing in the municipality of L'Île-d'Anticosti, Minganie Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of Côte-Nord, Quebec, Canada ...
*
Trois Milles River The rivière Trois Milles (''English: Three Mile River'') is a tributary of Lake Saint-Georges (which is crossed by the Gamache River), flowing in the municipality of L'Île-d'Anticosti, in the Minganie Regional County Municipality, in the admin ...
*
Rivière aux Canards (Anticosti Island) The rivière aux Canards (''English: Ducks River'') is a tributary of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, flowing in the municipality of L'Île-d'Anticosti, in the Minganie Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of Côte-Nord, in prov ...
*
La Petite Rivière (Anticosti Island - Western part) La Petite Rivière is a tributary of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, flowing in the municipality of L'Île-d'Anticosti, in the Minganie Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of Côte-Nord, in province of Quebec, in Canada. The ma ...
*
Rivière aux Graines (Anticosti Island) The rivière aux Graines (''English: Seed River'') is a tributary of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, flowing in the municipality of L'Île-d'Anticosti, in the Minganie Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of North Shore, in pro ...
*
Bec-Scie River The rivière Bec-Scie is a tributary of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, flowing in the municipality of L'Île-d'Anticosti, in the Minganie Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of Côte-Nord, in province of Quebec, in Canada. Th ...
* Sainte-Marie River (Anticosti Island) * Rivière aux Cailloux * Sainte Anne River (Anticosti Island) * Rivière à la Loutre (Anticosti Island) * Rivière au Fusil *
Jupiter River The rivière Jupiter is a watercourse flowing into Gulf of St. Lawrence, flowing in the municipality of L'Île-d'Anticosti, in the Minganie Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of North Shore, in province of Quebec, in Cana ...
* Rivière à la Chute (Anticosti Island) * Rivière du Brick * Galiote River * Rivière aux Rats (Anticosti Island) * Chicotte River * Rivière aux Plats * Pavillon River ** Pavillon East River * Ferrée River (Anticosti Island) * Maccan River (Anticosti Island) * Bilodeau River * Little Chaloupe River * Chaloupe River (Anticosti Island) * Dauphiné River * Bell River (Anticosti Island) * Petite rivière de la Loutre * Loups Marins River (Anticosti Island) * Cormoran River * La Petite Rivière (Anticosti Island - Eastern part) North shore of Anticosti Island (from west to east): * Huile River *
Patate River The Pastaza River ( es, Río Pastaza, formerly known as the SumataraEnock, Charles Reginald (1914) ''Ecuador: its ancient and modern history, topography and natural resources, industries and social development'' Charles Scribner's sons, New York ...
* Observation River * Vauréal River * Des Petits Jardins River * Rivière de l'Ours * Natiscotec River * Métallique River * Rivière aux Saumons (Anticosti Island) * Schmitt River * Prinsta River * Renard River (Anticosti Island)


Climate

Anticosti Island has a subarctic climate ( Dfc), tempered by the maritime influence of the Gulf of St. Lawrence which reduces the temperature differences. The average annual temperature is . The month of July is the warmest with an average temperature of . Conversely, February is the coldest month, on average . Snow precipitation is abundant, usually accumulating over in the western and central parts.


History


Indigenous history

For thousands of years, Anticosti Island was the territory of the indigenous peoples who lived on the mainland and used it as a hunting ground. The
Innu The Innu / Ilnu ("man", "person") or Innut / Innuat / Ilnuatsh ("people"), formerly called Montagnais from the French colonial period ( French for " mountain people", English pronunciation: ), are the Indigenous inhabitants of territory in th ...
called it ''Notiskuan'', translated as "where bears are hunted" and the
Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the north ...
called it ''Natigôsteg'', meaning "forward land".


Colonisation and settlement

The French explorer
Jacques Cartier Jacques Cartier ( , also , , ; br, Jakez Karter; 31 December 14911 September 1557) was a French- Breton maritime explorer for France. Jacques Cartier was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of ...
sailed along its shore in the summer of 1534. He provided its first written description and named it ''Isle de l'Assomption'', because he reached it on the Day of the
Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution ''Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by Go ...
. This name had fallen into disuse by 1656. About 1586, the historian André Thevet wrote that "the savages named tNaticousti", while
Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; Fichier OrigineFor a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December 1635) was a Fr ...
spelled it Antiscoti (1612), Antiscoty (1613), Enticosty (1625) and Antycosty (1632). From that time on, France had officially incorporated the island into its
colonial empire A colonial empire is a collective of territories (often called colony, colonies), either contiguous with the imperial center or located overseas territory, overseas, Plantation (settlement or colony), settled by the population of a certain Soverei ...
. The island's first European settlers arrived in 1680 when Louis XIV gave Louis Jolliet the
Seigneury ''Seigneur'' is an originally feudal title in France before the Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. A seigneur refers to the person or collective who owned a ''seigneurie'' ...
of the
Mingan Archipelago The Mingan Archipelago is an archipelago located east of Quebec, Canada. It consists of a chain of about 40 islands. Starting but 124 miles from the end of the road along the north shore of the St. Lawrence River (Le Fleuve), the Mingan Archipe ...
and Anticosti Island as compensation for reconnoitring the Mississippi and Hudson Bay. Louis Jolliet erected a fort on Anticosti and in the spring of 1681 settled there with his wife, four children and six servants. His fort was captured and occupied during the winter of 1690 by some of the Massachusetts troops of
William Phips Sir William Phips (or Phipps; February 2, 1651 – February 18, 1695) was born in Maine in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and was of humble origin, uneducated, and fatherless from a young age but rapidly advanced from shepherd boy, to shipwright, s ...
during their retreat after an unsuccessful attempt to capture Quebec City. After Jolliet's death in 1700, the island was divided among his three sons and the Jolliet family retained ownership until 1763 when the island became part of
British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestown, ...
under the terms of the Treaty of Paris that ended the Seven Years' War. That same year, the island was annexed to Newfoundland until 1774 when it was returned to
Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec and ...
and annexed again to Newfoundland from 1809 to 1825. It became a part of Quebec (as Lower Canada came to be called) at the
Canadian Confederation Canadian Confederation (french: Confédération canadienne, link=no) was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Dominion ...
in 1867. During these years the island property changed hands several times, its owners generally using it for the harvesting of timber; otherwise no real development took place. For example, the French Canadian
Gabriel-Elzéar Taschereau Gabriel-Elzéar Taschereau (March 27, 1745 – September 18, 1809) was the second in a line of distinguished French Canadians whose influence has spanned three centuries. Gabriel-Elzéar Taschereau was born at Quebec City, the son of Thomas- ...
owned it among other seigneuries and made money from them. In 1874, it was bought by the Anticosti Island Company and they founded the villages at English Bay and Fox Bay. Most of the inhabitants, however, continued to be the few keepers of the island's many lighthouses. Because of the number of shipwrecks around the island, stores of provisions were also maintained around the island for sailors who might be washed ashore. In 1882, the Parish of Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption was founded, a term referring to Cartier's name for the island. In 1884, the island became property of the Stockwell brothers who formed a forestry company two years later. But they were unsuccessful and the company lasted only five years. By the 1890s, the fish and wildlife of the island had been almost eradicated through the new locals' indiscriminate slaughter. In 1895, Anticosti was sold for $125,000 to French chocolate maker
Henri Menier Henri Emile Anatole Menier (July 14, 1853 – September 6, 1913) was a French businessman and adventurer and a member of the Menier family of chocolatiers. Born in Paris, he was the son of Emile-Justin Menier and grandson to Antoine Brutus Meni ...
who also leased the shore fishing rights. Menier named the island's high Vauréal Falls after the town of
Vauréal Vauréal () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris, in the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise, created in the 1960s. French chocolate maker Henri Menier (1853–1913) had a château in Vaur ...
in France where he owned a home. He constructed the entire village of
Port-Menier Port-Menier, Quebec is a small fishing town located on the western end of Anticosti Island, Quebec, Canada, part of the L'Île-d'Anticosti municipality. The port village was built during the late 19th century by French chocolate maker Henri Meni ...
, built a cannery for packing fish and
lobsters Lobsters are a family (Nephropidae, synonym Homaridae) of marine crustaceans. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs have claws, including the first pair, ...
, and attempted to develop its resources of lumber, peat and minerals. Many of the original houses still stand today. Furthermore, he converted the island into a personal game preserve and introduced nonindigenous animals for this purpose, including a herd of 220
white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...
. The deer thrived and today the population exceeds 160,000 while the island's moose population is about 1,000. It has been reported that
black bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...
s, which rely on berries to bulk on for the winter, had lived on the island until the introduction, but have disappeared perhaps because of the deer eating the berry bushes bare. Henri Menier died in 1913 and his brother Gaston became the owner of Anticosti Island. He used and maintained it for a time but eventually decided it was not an economically viable operation and sold it to the Wayagamack Pulp and Paper Company in 1926 for $6,000,000. For the next five decades, the island was used almost exclusively by forestry companies which harvested timber and built some infrastructure, mainly roads, but abandoned the villages at English Bay and Fox Bay. Wayagamack's timber production was successful until the Great Depression when the paper market collapsed. The island property was taken over by Consolidated Paper Corporation Limited in 1931, but they showed little interest in it and put it up for sale. Offers came from Canadian, American, British, French and Belgian parties. In July 1937, an offer was received from a consortium of Dutch and
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
capitalists who intended to build a sulphite mill and wanted a steady supply of pulpwood and access to Canadian capital. In the autumn of that year, a team of German surveyors travelled to the island to examine its timber and export potential. When this story broke in the ''
Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...
'' of 2 December 1937, it caused an immediate controversy since the story claimed that the survey team was really made up of
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...
's agents and that most were naval, military and fortifications experts. Despite the substantial offer, the promise of thousands of new jobs, and the fact that there were no legal methods to block the sale, the suspicions remained. A committee was set up to investigate the affair but concluded that "there was no evidence to indicate that the project has other than a commercial purpose". However, when the deadline to purchase the island passed on 15 September 1938, the offer expired and controversy died out. In 1974, the government of Quebec purchased the island from the forestry company Consolidated Bathurst Ltd. for $23,780,000. Anticosti was placed under management by the Ministry of Recreation, Hunting and Fishing (''ministère du Loisir de la Chasse et de la Pêche'') and in 1983 the process began to set up a working municipal structure. Today, about 60% is under management by Sépaq and since April 2001, has been designated as a national conservation park. With its 24 rivers and streams bountiful with salmon and trout, the island is now a tourist destination for anglers and hunters, particularly from the United States and Canada, as well as for
paleontologists Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of foss ...
, bird watchers and hikers.


Municipality of L'Île-d'Anticosti


Access and transportation

Access to the island is either by boat or plane. From April to mid-January, the commercial shipping company Relais Nordik services Port-Menier twice weekly with a passenger and cargo vessel. The
Port-Menier Airport Port-Menier Airport is located east of Port-Menier, Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the provin ...
is serviced by Air Liaison which provides regular scheduled flights to Sept-Îles and Havre-St-Pierre. There are two other aerodromes on the island, both towards the eastern end. Rivière-aux-Saumons (CTH7) is located on the northern side of the island and was paved in July 2010; Rivière Bell (CRB5) is gravel and is located on the southern side. These are used by
outfitter An outfitter is a shop or person that sells specialized clothes (an '' outfit'' is a set of clothing). More specifically, it is a company or individual who provides or deals in equipment and supplies for the pursuit of certain activities. In North ...
s and charter companies that provide private air services during the tourist season. The Henri-Menier Road or Transanticostienne Road, the island's unpaved main road, stretches from Port-Menier to the eastern tip, with numerous forest roads branching off to provide access to various tourist locations and logging concessions. Car rental is available in Port-Menier.


Flora

The forests of Anticosti Island are typical
boreal forest Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruce ...
, with common species such as
white spruce White spruce is a common name for several species of spruce (''Picea'') and may refer to: * ''Picea glauca'', native to most of Canada and Alaska with limited populations in the northeastern United States * ''Picea engelmannii ''Picea engelman ...
,
balsam fir ''Abies balsamea'' or balsam fir is a North American fir, native to most of eastern and central Canada (Newfoundland west to central Alberta) and the northeastern United States (Minnesota east to Maine, and south in the Appalachian Mountains to W ...
, and
black spruce ''Picea mariana'', the black spruce, is a North American species of spruce tree in the pine family. It is widespread across Canada, found in all 10 provinces and all 3 territories. It is the official tree of the province of Newfoundland and Labra ...
. It is distinguished by some minor stands of American white birch and trembling aspen. Balsam fir is slowly being replaced with white spruce because of intensive grazing done by deer and by periodic outbreaks of hemlock looper and
spruce budworm ''Choristoneura'' is a genus of moths in the family Tortricidae. Several species are serious pests of conifers, such as spruce and are known as spruce budworms. Species *'' Choristoneura adumbratanus'' (Walsingham, 1900) *'' Choristoneura afr ...
. About a quarter of the island is covered by peat lands.''Parc national d'Anticosti - Park Journal 2009-2010 Edition'', Parcs Québec Anticosti Island is home to the rare
lady's slipper orchid Cypripedioideae is a subfamily of orchids commonly known as lady's slipper orchids, lady slipper orchids or slipper orchids. Cypripedioideae includes the genera ''Cypripedium, Mexipedium, Paphiopedilum, Phragmipedium'' and '' Selenipedium''. Th ...
. While populations are declining elsewhere in eastern North America, the orchid flourishes here abundantly, making Anticosti a refuge for this plant.


Fauna

The wildlife is characteristic of an isolated marine environment. Of the 24 mammal species, 14 of these are marine mammals that include
grey seal The grey seal (''Halichoerus grypus'') is found on both shores of the North Atlantic Ocean. In Latin Halichoerus grypus means "hook-nosed sea pig". It is a large seal of the family Phocidae, which are commonly referred to as "true seals" or " ...
s and
harbour seals The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared se ...
. Even large whales ply the nearby cold waters of the gulf. Originally, there were probably only seven indigenous species of land mammals, namely the red fox, river otter,
deer mouse ''Peromyscus'' is a genus of rodents. They are commonly referred to as deer mice or deermice, not to be confused with the chevrotain or "mouse deer". They are New World mice only distantly related to the common house and laboratory mouse, ''Mu ...
,
American marten The American marten (''Martes americana''), also known as the American pine marten, is a species of North American mammal, a member of the family Mustelidae. The species is sometimes referred to as simply the pine marten. The name "pine marten" ...
,
black bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...
and two bat species (the
little brown Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily ...
and
northern bat The northern bat (''Eptesicus nilssonii'') is the most abundant species of bat in northern Eurasia occurring from England to Hokkaidō and south to northern India. Description The northern bat is dark brown or black with some gold touched at the ...
); the marten and bear have now been extirpated.
Melanistic The term melanism refers to black pigment and is derived from the gr, μελανός. Melanism is the increased development of the dark-colored pigment melanin in the skin or hair. Pseudomelanism, also called abundism, is another variant of pi ...
foxes have been seen on the island. In order to make Anticosti Island a hunter's "paradise", several animal species have been introduced; starting in 1896, the island became an unprecedented biological experiment. In all, sixteen introduced species have been attempted, with six proving to be unsuccessful, namely
bison Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant taxon, extant and numerous extinction, extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'' ...
,
caribou Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subsp ...
,
elk The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The commo ...
, mink and
fisher Fisher is an archaic term for a fisherman, revived as gender-neutral. Fisher, Fishers or The Fisher may also refer to: Places Australia *Division of Fisher, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland *Elect ...
. However, for ten species, it has been a beneficial introduction; six species of terrestrial mammals (
white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...
, moose,
beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are ...
, snowshoe hare and
muskrat The muskrat (''Ondatra zibethicus'') is a medium-sized semiaquatic rodent native to North America and an introduced species in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. The muskrat is found in wetlands over a wide range of climates and habitat ...
), two species of frogs, and two species of non-migratory birds ( ruffed grouse and the spruce grouse). Of all these species introduced, the success of white-tailed deer is particularly noteworthy. From an initial group of about 200 (introduced in 1896 and 1897), the number of white-tailed deer has grown to an estimated 160,000 animals today, representing a density of 20 deer/km2. Without predators, this man-made deer population has had noticeable impacts on the island ecosystem. Balsam fir trees covered about 40% of the island, prior to the introduction of the deer. The deer eat tender sprouts from the ground, and prevent fir regeneration; in turn, the firs are being replaced by white spruce. The
brook trout The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae. It is native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada, but has been introduced elsewhere ...
,
Atlantic salmon The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlantic salmon ar ...
and
American eel The American eel (''Anguilla rostrata'') is a facultative catadromous fish found on the eastern coast of North America. Freshwater eels are fish belonging to the elopomorph superorder, a group of phylogenetically ancient teleosts. The Amer ...
visit the island's shores and swim up several rivers of the island. Some 221 bird species, distributed among 21 avian families, have been observed on Anticosti Island. It is home to nearly 60% of the known breeding sites of the
bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche ...
in the province of Quebec.


Tourism

Because of its untamed wilderness and abundant wildlife, Anticosti Island is known for its hunting, fishing and outdoor opportunities and it attracts some 3,000 to 4,000 hunters per year. Most of Anticosti Island () is under management by Sépaq Anticosti, a division of the provincial parks and wildlife reserves agency Sépaq. It actively promotes tourism on the island, in particular hunting and fishing tours. Another is protected in the
Anticosti National Park Anticosti National Park (French (official): ''Parc National d'Anticosti'') is a provincial park of Quebec, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend fr ...
(''Parc national d'Anticosti''). In addition to hunting and fishing, many other outdoor recreational activities are supported in this park, such as hiking, horseback riding, nature viewing and sea kayaking. There are also five commercial
outfitter An outfitter is a shop or person that sells specialized clothes (an '' outfit'' is a set of clothing). More specifically, it is a company or individual who provides or deals in equipment and supplies for the pursuit of certain activities. In North ...
s that hold exclusive hunting and fishing rights to of the island.


Utica Shale

The Utica Shale, a
stratigraphical Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers ( strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithostrat ...
unit of
Middle Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period million years ago (Mya) to the start of the Silurian Period Mya. The ...
age Age or AGE may refer to: Time and its effects * Age, the amount of time someone or something has been alive or has existed ** East Asian age reckoning, an Asian system of marking age starting at 1 * Ageing or aging, the process of becoming older ...
that is potentially rich in shale gas reserves, underlies the Anticosti Islands and extends to surrounding areas in Quebec, Ontario and much of northeastern United States. On February 8, 2011, the citizen group "Non au Pétrole et au Gaz au Québec" released one of the biggest petitions in Quebec history against fracking in the province of Quebec with 128,000 signatures thinking it would prevent the oil and gas exploration on Anticosti. In June 2011, the Quebec firm Pétrolia claimed to have discovered about 30 billion
barrels A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, u ...
of
oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
on the island of Anticosti, which is the first time that significant reserves have been found in the province. In February 2014, Premier of Quebec
Pauline Marois Pauline Marois (; born March 29, 1949) is a retired Canadian politician, who served as the 30th premier of Quebec from 2012 to 2014. Marois had been a member of the National Assembly in various ridings since 1981 as a member of the Parti Québ� ...
announced that the provincial government would help finance two exploratory shale gas operations as a prelude to
hydraulic fracturing Fracking (also known as hydraulic fracturing, hydrofracturing, or hydrofracking) is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of bedrock formations by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "frack ...
on the island, with the province pledging $115-million to finance drilling for two separate joint ventures in exchange for rights to 50% of the licences and 60% of any commercial profit. It was the first oil and gas deal of any size for the province. With the change in government that occurred in April 2014, the Liberals of Philippe Couillard could change that decision. Petrolia Inc., Corridor Resources and
Maurel & Prom Maurel & Prom is an oil company specialising in the production of hydrocarbons. It is listed on Euronext Paris and has its registered office in Paris. The Group generates most of its business in Africa through the exploitation of onshore product ...
formed one joint-venture, while Junex Inc. was still seeking a private partner. On June 4, 2013, the citizen group "Non au Pétrole et au Gaz au Québec", realizing that fracking continued to be a viable method of oil extraction on Anticosti, released another petition that garnered 26,000 signatures against fracking, exploration and exploitation of oil and gas on Anticosti Island and asked for a moratorium and an environmental evaluation. Geological engineer Marc Durand gave a presentation at a conference explaining that a minimum of 12,000 wells would be necessary for this exploitation and would put Quebec in debt, considering the 12 million dollar cost of one of these wells. A year later, when Pauline Marois announced an investment of 115 million dollars for Petrolia to continue the exploration, the same petition increased up to 36,000 signatures. The government started a BAPE (environmental evaluation) specific for Anticosti and the report, published on October 3, is in favour of creating a protected area on the island.


See also

*
Henri de Miffonis Henri de Miffonis (May 24, 1882 - 1955), born as Louis Fernand Henri de Miffonis, was a civil engineer. He was born in Boulogne-Billancourt, France and died in Canada in 1955. Miffonis specialized in the construction of lighthouses. He studied i ...
*
List of islands of Quebec This is an incomplete list of islands of Canada. Arctic islands Queen Elizabeth Islands * Adams Island * Alexander Island *Baillie-Hamilton Island * Bathurst Island *Borden Island * Brock Island * Buckingham Island * Byam Martin Island * Camero ...
* Maritime Quebec


Notes


References

* * * E. Billings, ''Geological Survey of Canada: Catalogue of the Silurian Fossils of Anticosti'' (Montreal, 1866) * Logan, ''Geological Survey of Canada, Report of Progress from its Commencement to 1863'' (Montreal, 1863–1865) * Gretchen Eshbaugh Engel, ''Though Memory Plays Me False. A Story of Anticosti. The St. Lawrence River Isle of Enchantment, the life of William Hardy Eshbaugh and the role he played in its early development.'' (Southbury, CT, 1971) * Charlie McCormick. ''Anticosti''. (1996) Éditions JCL * Donald MacKay. ''Anticosti, The Untamed Island''. (1979)
McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ryerson Press was a Canadian book publishing company, active from 1919 to 1970.Janet B. Friskney"The Birth of The Ryerson Press Imprint" Historical Perspectives on Canadian Publishing. First established by the Methodist Book Room, a division of t ...
* Henri Menier. ''Anticosti, 1905''. (Paris? 1905?). 30 original photographs by Henri Menier. Autographed presentation copy to Lord Grey. Collection of University of Saskatchewan Library, Saskatoon, Canada. *Alberta C. Pew, Joseph N. Pew, Jr., Margaret R. Leisenring, Edward B. Leisenring, Jay Cooke, ''A.E.F.: Anticosti Expeditionary Force'' (Philadelphia?: Privately Printed, 1935). Account of a private fishing expedition to the island. * J. Schmitt, ''Anticosti'' (Paris, 1904).


External links

*
Sépaq Anticosti official websiteParc national d'Anticosti official website

Harry Forbes Diaries on Fishing Trips to Johann Beetz Bay, Quebec and the Anticosti Island
at Dartmouth College Library {{Authority control River islands of Quebec Menier family Islands of the Saint Lawrence River Landforms of Côte-Nord