Our group has become very concerned due to the fact that the outdoors recreational water related sports never seem to be represented in the mainstream modern day televised news casts or tourism advertisements. Has fishing become outdated, less important or just way down on the list of so many underlying issues of the day. Why does one type or species of fish attract the lions share of management effort over others and what pushes this agenda. Is the quantifiable reasoning of consumptive use and how negatively this personal indulgence impacts fish populations, as sustainable or even as relevant in modern times as it was in the late 1800’s. Do the higher ideals of sustainability, catch and release as well as a much more diverse and pleasurable angling experience seem more relevant in modern day fishery management? Or is there a sustainable, balanced and considerate equilibrium that can be implemented that supports all these worthy approaches in a fair and stable manner.

There are between 160-230 ponds stocked with Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, Tiger Trout and Brook Trout where the parent child experience can share in the time-honoured hunter gather consumptive experience in the province. This program of allowing each licensed or juvenile (under 16) angler to retain five trout per day is very acceptable and should remain as it is. This is the right program in the right environment on the appropriate size water body and it was implemented for this very purpose. The province has done a great job both implementing this program and maintaining it but there is an allocation of significant funds to maintain a pleasurable angling experience. While this is very acceptable on these small ponds that will not overwinter, there are also other much larger lakes that need much different fishery management approaches to remain sustainable. On larger lakes that contain Lake Whitefish, Pike, Perch, Walleye and Burbot is it acceptable to limit the consumptive angler to a specific number of fish daily and annually. 

The most sustainable numbers seem to fall in the range of one fish per day, five fish annually (Cumulative total all species in any one fishery unit) Province wide. That would allow the angler to retain five fish cumulatively all species off all waterbodies combined in any one of ten-fishing unit’s province wide. That still allows anglers to retain 50 fish annually all fish species combined all water bodies cumulatively spread over the entire province. Beyond that is it fair to ask anglers to pursue buying any other fish beyond these allowable retention limits from a retail outlet for table fare. Realistically it would probably be cheaper anyway than going out to fish all over Alberta or even the southern or northern region to retain fish for table fare. Is it possible or fair that the province cuts the consumptive angler back even more on these large venue retention fisheries? Beyond this is it fair that the catch and release angler pays the same for a license as a consumptive angler who consumes fish and results in an ongoing annual expenditure by the province in stocking programs. Is it fair to charge the consumptive angler an extra $ 10.00 for a consumptive license and implement a tag program where they pay $ 5.00 per fish tag, five tags per fishing unit per year?  These are all very interesting and worthwhile topics and many of the underling issues that fisheries now face in a society that is distancing itself from the natural world more each day, year, decade and century. These topics and issues can be debated, deliberated and applied with both balance and consideration if the modern world has the desire to address the importance of whether we want to or not. 

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There is a place for Walleye, Bull Trout, Rocky Mountain Whitefish, West slope Cutthroat Trout, Lake Trout, Pike, Perch, Burbot, Sauger and all our native fish species. They deserve a place at the management table especially if they can maintain sustainability in modern times even though at times this may have its challenges. Does consumptive use have a place in the modern world of fisheries management the answer is yes. If there is a consumptive desire for a specific species of fish and it is done in a sustainable manner in the right location using the most suitable program the answer can be yes. However, there is also a place for the very conservative, avid and dedicated anglers that base the reward more on the actual experience than for table fare. The places for this type of program will be in places that are large enough, resourceful enough and have the environment to provide a real quality angling experience. The province has 160-230 small ponds and prairie potholes for the parent child experience where anglers can fish for and take five trout per day home for the table that is acceptable. The anglers that desire this very consumptive venue have been considered and supported in a very long term stable enjoyable manner by the province. 

There are 230 waterbodies within the province of Alberta that contain Walleye in an environment for the most part that has been catch and release for over 30 years there are some concerns here. Of those 230 lakes 118 have ben stocked so heavily with Walleye only 30% have produced catchable size walleye. Further more only 10% of these 118 stocked lakes have produced any negligible recruitment. These 118 lakes obviously require stocking due to the lack of recruitment and also because of no real long-term sustainability they are a suitable situation for a program that supports limited retention. In order to provide sizable well conditioned fish the stocking and retention must be balanced, and consideration of a limited harvest for walleye anglers because that is what they desire. The construction of the Cold Lake fish Culture station was constructed mainly to raise walleye, the amount of effort and money that has been thrown at this Massively obsessive provincial Walleye program has been all encompassing. The lions share of research, funding, manhours and effort allocated to walleye fisheries is unprecedented in all of the province’s fish management history.  

There is a province wide concern developing that there has been massive determination towards allocation of funds, man hours and effort for the last thirty-five years solely expended into this obsessive Walleye program.  The next level of allocation of effort has been directed towards the Bull Trout, West Slope Cutthroat Trout, Sturgeon, and Arctic Grayling. Probably the next native species in the province to be designated as a species at risk will be the Rocky Mountain Whitefish. That is if the province ever has time to access and assess that situation. Almost every trout stream in Alberta right now is under siege from habitat loss, water related issues, industrial seepage and agricultural/livestock bi-products, water withdrawals, poor flow regimes, storm drain runoff, intense angling pressure, rampant illegal retention and now whirling disease so they are under strict catch and release regulations. The health and well being of our four major watersheds in the province are at risk and contain whirling disease. The latest in a long line of real concerning issues is the recent introduction of the Prussian Carp. The province really needs to investigate how condensed population densities of this fish species (Prussian Carp) suddenly materialised in so many water bodies in the south end of the province. Is this a relatable incidence to the introduction of grass carp into irrigation canals in the southern half of the province to address weed control in irrigation canals. This is a real detrimental introduction of an extremely harmful species of fish that could put every fish population in Alberta in very grave danger.  

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