A depleting walleye population in lakes around the MD of Bonnyville could lead to changes in regulations.
A depleting walleye population in lakes around the MD of Bonnyville could lead to changes in regulations.
Alberta Environment and Parks representatives are headed to Bonnyville this week to discuss walleye fishing on Marie Lake, Cold Lake and Moose Lake.
"For Marie Lake we have a walleye population that looks like it's in need of some more strict protection so I want to discuss that in particular," said Dwayne Latty, a senior fisheries biologist with Environment and Parks. "If we don't change our management strategy, the population could collapse."
Walleye regulations are expected to become more stringent at Marie Lake, where anglers are allowed to bag only one fish over 50 centimetres. Latty said there are no firm plans for regulation changes at Cold Lake or Moose Lake, with anglers being allowed to fish up to three walleye over 50 centimetres in Cold Lake and one over 50 centimetres at Moose Lake.
Environment and Parks will not announce specific regulations prior to the public meeting on Jan. 13.
Although the primary focus of the meeting is on walleye, Latty said that there are also other fish in MD lakes that are need of more aggressive conservation, such as burbot.
"We have a very liberal bag limit of 10 (burbots) and I don't know if that's a good idea anymore. That's an old bag limit, it's likely a regulation from when we first started regulating species and I just don't know if that makes sense anymore to carry forward a regulation from the 1980s."
Currently Environment and Parks manage most fisheries in the MD with a size limit, which protects fish so they have the opportunity to reproduce at least once in the in their lifetime, before they become vulnerable to harvest.
"The one thing that we don't do in most of the lakes is actually limit the number of anglers who are allowed to harvest," Latty said, noting that there are lakes where anglers are only permitted to harvest with licenses or tags. "The only way we can conserve these populations or protect them from collapsing and going extinct is to regulate or limit the harvest."
Environment and Parks is also concerned that a growing population in Bonnyville and Cold Lake has led to increasing angling pressure, meaning demand is outstripping available resources.
However, a number of anglers feel that Environment and Parks regulations over the years have unfairly targeted them.
"When (Environment and Parks) talk (about) fishing pressure, some of us that have been alive for more than 40 years know that 30 years ago on Moose Lake there was a whole lot more fishing pressure than there is now and the population was stable," said Gordon Poirier, former president of the Beaver River Fish and Game Association. "It shouldn't be called fishery management, it should be called angler management because that's all they've been doing."
Poirier said that water levels and water quality are the main causes of walleye depletion, not anglers.
"We had that discussion last year about northern pike, why didn't they bring the walleye numbers to our attention at that time instead of basically sending in these regulations without any consultation like they're supposed to?"
As part of a move to create a united voice to lobby for fishing, Poirier is planning on setting up a northeastern Alberta provincial roundtable, with hopes to have people attend from places like St. Paul, Fort Saskatchewan and Athabasca.
At the meeting, Latty plans to talk about fishery management, recovery strategies and what new regulations can mean for anglers. After he is done, residents are encouraged to ask questions or raise concerns.
Interested residents can attend the public meeting at the C2 conference room on Jan. 13 between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. There will also be a public meeting in Cold Lake at the Ramada on the previous night, Jan. 12, at the same time.
