[1] The average flow is 16 cubic metres per second (570 cu ft/s), a steady rate due to the two dams built in the first half of the 20th century.

[2] In the early 20th century Jules-André Brillant (1888–1973), a local entrepreneur, formed the Compagnie de Pouvoir du Bas-Saint-Laurent (Lower Saint Lawrence Power Company).

The company grew into the largest power supplier in the region with a network of transmission lines serving Matane, Mont-Joli, Rimouski and beyond.

[5] In 1963 the government of Quebec nationalized the production of electricity and created Hydro-Québec as a public utility, which took over management of the Mitis-1 and Mitis-2 dams.

In 1965 a salmon capture station was installed at the foot of Mitis-2, with a system to transport the fish above the dams to a point about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) upstream near the mouth of the Neigette River.

[4] Historians think that the Malécites / Maliseet Indians fished for eel and salmon at the mouth of the river, although they may not have had permanent villages.

Fish are numerous, and include Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), longnose dace (Rhinichthys cataractae), Eastern blacknose dace (Rhinichthys atratulus), slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus), American eel (Anguilla rostrata) and brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis).

[3] George Stephen, co-founder of the Canadian Pacific Railway, established the first fishing camp on the river in 1886.

At that time salmon could only reach 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) upstream, where they were stopped by a 35 metres (115 ft) waterfall.

In view of the rapidly declining Atlantic salmon population catch-and-release should have been implemented on all rivers apart from northern Quebec.