The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has closed three areas on the Southwest Miramichi River to fishing to protect salmon that are under stress from the ongoing hot weather.

Angling has been prohibited in the Indiantown Brook, Wilson Brook and Sutherland Pool.

It's been a tough summer for salmon in New Brunswick's Miramichi River. The federal department estimates that hundreds of fish have died because they can't survive in the river's warmer waters.

Warm water loses oxygen, forcing salmon to pools of cooler water.

Ernest Ferguson, a DFO spokesman in the Tracadie-Sheila office, said that's led to the closure of three areas on the Southwest Miramichi River.

"As the temperature rises, it increases the stress on the salmon," Ferguson said.

'There are idiots out there. Fish are gasping and at their last breath and they'll go out there and try to fish for them.'— Mark Hambrook, N.B. Salmon Association

"So if there is other activity, or fishing activity, this would contribute to the mortality of the fish."

If the hot weather persists, Ferguson said, nine more angling areas could be closed.

He said what the salmon need to relieve their stress is cool weather and rain.

The DFO official said extra officers have been brought in to patrol the areas and stop poachers.

Conservation concerns

Mark Hambrook, the president of the Miramichi Salmon Association, said the fish are more visible, more vulnerable and more tempting to poachers when they are in shallower areas of the river.

"There are idiots out there. Fish are gasping and at their last breath and they'll go out there and try to fish for them," Hambrook said.

"When the water is really warm and these fish are in there because they're under stress, they need to be left alone."

Hambrook says his conservation group is also concerned about a drop in salmon stocks on the Northwest Miramichi River.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans had already imposed a catch-and-release-only policy for salmon on that stretch of water on June 30. The number of salmon eggs in the Northwest Miramichi River has dropped dramatically over the past decade.