Everyone in the province seems to be able to agree that Alberta has many challenges as they relate to quality fishing within the province. Unfortunately effective resolutions are seriously slow and in many areas simply not forthcoming. It is always easy for the Political arena, Ministers and Deputy Ministers to explain away a certain approach or mindset on paper it is another situation entirely involving the actual realities of real world situations. Either the Environment and Sustainable Resources Development (ESRD) has lost touch with the realities that are affecting fisheries within the province, or they are having a hard time relating to the public feedback they are currently and continually getting inundated with in a very knowledge based practical manner. Even two of the provinces long standing outdoor writers (Bob Scammell and Neil Waugh) have provided their public input via their weekly columns in the Red Deer Advocate and the Edmonton Sun. Both of these very recognized writers have very valid concerns about the way both the provincial Government and ESRD are managing Alberta Fisheries.

There are 800 lakes in the province of Alberta with naturally occurring fish populations and 300 or so are stocked with fish by the Alberta Government. The most accurate information we can get on how many rivers there are in Alberta is 88 we located this information came from Wiki Answers.com.   There are 63 species of fish province wide of which only 18 of these species are preferred for food or angling.   On one website it has also been said that Alberta has the third highest angling pressure within all of Canada. That is why the province has to optimize and maintain as many quality angling opportunities province wide as occasion and potential provides in order to deal with intense angling pressure. Not make excuses about how challenging and impossible situations complicate administrative challenges and create road blocks. Alberta has one of the strongest economies world wide right now and the provincial operational and maintenance (budget) revenue base has the deepest pockets Canada wide. Yet the provincial Government, the Minister of ESRD, the Deputy Minister of ESRD, the head office executive annually accept a fishery management budget of a slim $ 10 million dollars to manage fishery operations province wide on a yearly basis. Yet they all enthusiastically embrace and accept a substantial salary, two bonuses annually and a gold plated pension plan without even a broadcast of how disappointed they are with the measly $ 10 Million dollar annual budget they actually just let it ride.

The fishery management budget is only one responsibility centre involving how Alberta fisheries either remain sustainable or collapse entirely.  Friends of the Red Deer River think if the truth be known the overall financial budget is also at best marginal when it comes to financing enforcement field services which was recently relocated over to the Solicitor General and Public Safety Department and is at least as financially challenged as those in the Fish & Wildlife Division. The question has to be asked how other financially strapped provinces in Canada fund and maintain quality fishing opportunities in their respective locations in very financially challenging times.

Admittedly managing an entire provinces fishery program in a vibrant dynamic manner is a significant challenge. None the less when a public servant accepts any position within that department they also accept the responsibility to put in a concerted effort in a dynamic manner and these public servants are well paid for just that. Many anglers are now very unhappy with both the way their provincial fisheries management budgets are being disgracefully under funded and their fisheries are either being under managed or over managed in some cases with minimal resourcefulness, balance or common sense. Other concerns involve how the enforcement field services are inefficient and ineffectual at best in an environment that is clearly beset with illegal retention and overly consumptive legal and illegal behaviour.

Within in any legislation, directive, regulation there is cause and effect within the confines of every appointment, approval or change to each affected dynamic. In order for equilibrium to exist within a function each component within the process must support the other in order to create any real resourceful and lasting success. The real world of Alberta fisheries revolves around a pretty symptomatic blend resembling a chain with many links that must all remain interlinked any break results in disastrous repercussions. Within the dynamic are restrictive measures, the angler’s desires, enforcement, policing regimes, effective minimum fines for illegal consumptive behaviour and in many cases resilient and resourceful mitigation for fish population losses. The chain in Alberta is broken in a number of places within the overall length of the fishery management chain. Not only are the indecisions by the provincial government, ESRD and the Fish & Wildlife Division affecting trout populations on both flowing and Stillwater environments, they are affecting angling desires and a consistent quality angling experience. This is not only evident in the way the trout populations are being affected within their physical conditioning factors it is also affecting the fish populations overall and their food base on flowing waters.

Pushing the envelope as it relates to running the economic engine on all cylinders which requires massive numbers of immigrant and transient workers and increased demands on our precious water resources. Continually drawing water from one sub basin to supply a community centrally located in another sub basin and then simultaneously dumping these communities’ sewage wastes back into these water sheds is very compromising to the integrity of our lower elevation main stem streams. It de-waters these rivers, elevates water temps which lowers oxygen levels as well as elevates chronic waste water quality levels. These decisions have very detrimental impacts on aquatic insect populations as well as municipal water requirements and water quality.

The premier and those in her cabinet are on the fringe of some very challenging decisions, they had better make sure the process is very open, accountable and transparent. So far the water resources have taken the brunt of a provincial government that has embraced optimistic future economic growth and a massive resource extraction based economy that will also entertain massive population increases within the province.

Over the last thirty years these economic based decisions have been at the expense of our water sheds, fisheries and the provinces overall angling experience and the anglers desires. The decision to embrace expansion has well surpassed the effort put forward to deal with the impacts on our provincial natural capital (infrastructure) and increasingly minimum stream flows are being breached and water quality issues are coming to the forefront province wide.

This website has covered a lot of information that has hopefully informed and raised concern towards the manner in which our government, public servants and citizens need to reset their moral compass. The decisions of those in powerful, financially well of positions in the political arena, public service, private sector resource extraction and water resource industries have some very challenging times ahead and the decisions they undertake now and into the future will affect many areas within the province. These politicians and public servants are obviously intelligent enough to the choices they have made and the repercussions these decisions create. One really has to question what their mindset is towards what they perceive takes priority here and then once the decision is made at what level within the pecking order takes precedent within the political and fundamental choices they make.