Bull Trout and Athabaskas

[Don Andersen]

Folks,

Copied this from the fishing section.

Alberta's Provincial fish, the Bull Trout, and the only species of Rainbow trout native to Alberta, the Athabasca Rainbow, are both listed as 'Threatened' by the province. On March 23rd the federal Dept. of Fisheries and Oceans announced that, on the advice of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, it would propose the addition of these species for addition protection under the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA) depending on input from the public. Listing under SARA would add federal support for their recovery with a focus on habitat restoration. A number of angling and wildlife organizations are looking at sending letters of support, some with conditions attached, but numbers matter to politicians and emails from individual anglers are sometimes as or more effective.
There's a deadline for comment - April 22nd - and a requirement: "Interested persons may make representations concerning the proposed Order within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice. All such representations must cite the Canada Gazette, Part I, and the date of publication of this notice, and be addressed to Julie Stewart, Director, Species at Risk Program, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0E6 (fax: 613‑990‑4810; email: SARA_LEP@dfo-mpo.gc.ca)"

The proposed Order can be found at:

http://gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2019/2.../reg1-eng.html

[Don Andersen]

The proposed designation poses a number of questions:

1) will there be closed waters
2) in waters where these trout exist, will fishing and not retention be allowed
3) incidental catches may occur causing harassment or death
4) what effect will the listing have on other users like forestry, drilling, quads
5) what efforts will be undertaken to rectify past issues like hanging culverts and the like.
6) will Anglers be allowed to target these species.

Lots of things to think about.

Don

[PeterSL]

Agree re. questions, Don, but there won't be an answer for at least a year. The process, as I understand it, is that after taking into consideration comments received in this final opportunity for feedback, the Governor in Council will publish the final order to Canada Gazette II,(probably about June) after which it will immediately come into force. I don't have any doubt that it will happen. DFO then has a year to develop a recovery strategy for each species in conjunction with the province, any affected landowners, etc. Then there's a 60 day period for public feedback on the strategy. After that there should be answers. Hopefully there will opportunity for anglers and others to provide input in developing those recovery strategies. Think it's worth requesting that if nothing else.

[Don Andersen]

Ah ha, the process of Govt.
so in about <> 2 years something may happen.
Oh well, the Bulls have waited and waited..... 25 years since they were officially recognized as in trouble.


http://www.calgaryherald.com/technol...094/story.html

Thankfully Fisheries doesn’t run the fire department.

Don

[fisho_badyk]

This is great but a little worrisome because of what other parties can and may use something like this as ammunition for.
If it gets the fish more protection without taking more rights and fishable locations away from fisherman, i'm all for it. I know my particular view won't be popular on this, but as far Bull's and most waters around here go, I think the trout keep should be cut to 0, and the whitefish keep cut by half. With the rest of the closures in the province, I think our rivers in the West Country are going to get smashed up hard.
If it doesn't get more protection from Bull poachers, we're going to have a situation like the '80's of beautiful, crystal-clear, fishless friggin' water.

[338Bluff]

In some jurisdictions they will prohibit targeting a specific species. Alberta will just shut them all down like the Pembina. The managers here dont care two whits about the recreational angler.

[nimrod]

Originally Posted by Don Andersen

Ah ha, the process of Govt.
so in about <> 2 years something may happen.
Oh well, the Bulls have waited and waited..... 25 years since they were officially recognized as in trouble.


http://www.calgaryherald.com/technol...094/story.html

Thankfully Fisheries doesn’t run the fire department.

Don

This link is from 2012, maybe nothings have improved, lets hope