The Bedeque Bay Watershed

BBEMA manages the Bedeque Bay watershed which is situated in central Prince Edward Island on the south shore adjacent to the Northumberland Strait.   The watershed is composed of six smaller subwatersheds; Sunbury Cove (5,800 ha), the Wilmot River (8,300 ha), the Dunk River (16,650 ha), the Bradshaw River (4,750 ha), Seven Mile Bay / Salutation Cove (950 ha) and Schurmans Point (150 ha). Four of the watersheds; Sunbury Cove, Schurmans Point, Bradshaw River and Seven Mile Bay / Salutation Cove are predominantly coastal areas or flat near-coastal lands – the total land mass drained by these rivers is approximately 36,740 hectares (~6.5% of the Island).

Bedeque Bay is one of the most intensively developed watersheds in the province with reference to agricultural production, some 75% of the watershed is cleared.  The majority of this (61%) is in intensive, three-year rotation with potatoes being the major cash crop.  While the major industry is agriculture, there is a strong aquaculture industry, the Dunk and Wilmot estuaries of Bedeque Bay are the largest oyster producing areas on Prince Edward Island – with over 65% of the oysters produced in Prince Edward Island sourced from this watershed.