ESRD requesting catch-and-release on specific waters to help fish recover

[Flieguy]

http://www.tucanada.org/index.asp?p=2055&vn=197

Oi meatfishers! Stick to stocked ponds if you can for now, Trout Unlimited and Environment and Sustainable resources is asking people not to keep any fish from specific waterways.

[walking buffalo]

Every native will be released but I will be bonking every Brook and Rainbow that I catch in some ES1 flowing waters, at ESRD's request. :)


I am surprised ESRD and TU do not state that they WANT Brookies and Rainbows removed from certain waters, and that the timing to continue this cull could not be better.

[wind drift]

Don't be too surprised. It's probably because ESRD isn't sure that everyone can tell the difference between a brookie and a bull trout, or a rainbow and a cutt. That's why the stewardship licence requires a fish ID test.

[Flieguy]

Don't be too surprised. It's probably because ESRD isn't sure that everyone can tell the difference between a brookie and a bull trout, or a rainbow and a cutt. That's why the stewardship licence requires a fish ID test.

Exactly!

plus, the point is not to remove brookies and rainbows. That's why it's only open to certain areas. the objective is to bring back cutthroats

[walking buffalo]

Exactly!

plus, the point is not to remove brookies and rainbows. That's why it's only open to certain areas. the objective is to bring back cutthroats


Huh? The point of a cull is not to remove the targeted species? Your comment contradicts itself.


The objective is to help restore and protect Bull trout and Cutthroat trout populations and genetics through the removal of Brook and Rainbow trout in an attempt to reduce competition and crossbreeding.

The best time to have the largest impact on a undesired species is when it is at a low population, thus NOW is the time to hit the Brookies and Rainbows in these waters.



Winddrift, if SRD was felt fish ID (brook/bull, cutty/ rainbow) for all general fishing licenced people was of such a critical concern, then the regulations would include ZERO harvest for those waters.


Treating fellow fisherman as ignorant begets ignorance....

[Pikebreath]

Huh? The point of a cull is not to remove the targeted species? Your comment contradicts itself.


The objective is to help restore and protect Bull trout and Cutthroat trout populations and genetics through the removal of Brook and Rainbow trout in an attempt to reduce competition and crossbreeding.

The best time to have the largest impact on a undesired species is when it is at a low population, thus NOW is the time to hit the Brookies and Rainbows in these waters.



Winddrift, if SRD was felt fish ID (brook/bul, cutty/ rainbow) for all general fishing licenced people was of such a critical concern, then the regulations would include ZERO harvest for those waters.


Treating fellow fisherman as ignorant begets ignorance....

WB,,, take a closer look at the 2013 regs for the ES regions. That is exactly what SRD has done in drainages where there is concern about misidentification of brookies with bulls and rainbows with cutts,,, and this reg was put in prior to the flood.

You need a stewardship license to harvest brookies and rainbows in select drainages which means passing the fish ID test first.

The voluntary zero harvest is basically for all streams affected by the floods, where the concern is for protecting "wild fish", not necessarily "native fish"!

And yes, I do agree this would be the time to hit those brookies and rainbows in the drainages targeted for their removal from the gene pool,,, but again it needs to be done by anglers who have shown themselves fully competent in fish ID.

[chimpac]

If anybody wants fish to recover, quit jerking them out of the water with hooks just to have a look at them.

[walking buffalo]

WB,,, take a closer look at the 2013 regs for the ES regions. That is exactly what SRD has done in drainages where there is concern about misidentification of brookies with bulls and rainbows with cutts,,, and this reg was put in prior to the flood.

You need a stewardship license to harvest brookies and rainbows in select drainages which means passing the fish ID test first.

The voluntary zero harvest is basically for all streams affected by the floods, where the concern is for protecting "wild fish", not necessarily "native fish"!

And yes, I do agree this would be the time to hit those brookies and rainbows in the drainages targeted for their removal from the gene pool,,, but again it needs to be done by anglers who have shown themselves fully competent in fish ID.


You confirmed my position. Thanks. :)

Now can you provide any examples of such closures?


You may want to read my initial post again noting my mention of certain Waters.

[Pikebreath]

Where do is start? How about from here?

http://albertaregulations.ca/fishingregs/management.html#changes

Trout / Whitefish
•Alberta’s native Westslope Cutthroat Trout have been listed under
Alberta’s Wildlife Act as ‘Threatened’, and this listing has also been recommended under the Canada Species at Risk Act. A provincial recovery plan has been initiated for this species. Changes in sportfishing
management are required in order to support the continuation of
recreational fishing opportunities, while still promoting the recovery of
populations. Consequently, catch and release regulations (zero limit) are being broadly implemented for Westslope Cutthroat Trout. A complication is the presence of non-native Rainbow Trout in many of
the streams supporting Westslope Cutthroat Trout populations, which results in hybridization and the inability of many anglers to accurately differentiate between the species of fish caught. This means that allowing harvest of Rainbow Trout in such waters, while desirable from
a conservation perspective, puts native Cutthroat Trout at an unacceptably high risk due to misidentification and unintentional
harvest. Consequently, a zero bag limit for all trout in specified streams in the Oldman and Kananaskis river watersheds is being implemented for 2013. However, reduction of Rainbow Trout and the hybridization and competition with Westslope Cutthroat Trout in these watersheds is a desired conservation outcome. Discussions are taking place to find ways to reduce the risk due to species misidentification by anglers and provide for low-risk, targeted Rainbow Trout harvest opportunities.

[Flieguy]

to recap, the objective of TUC and ESRD in this project is to:

BRING BACK CUTTHROAT TROUT by reclaiming some of their habitat from brookies and rainbows which are more competitive and non native.

not to cull all brookies, streams which contain no cutthroats are not open to the cull.

if you want to take part in the cull, you must pass a fish ID test, as not all anglers can tell the difference between cutts and rainbows and brookies and bulls. Especially cutbow hybrids (which count as cutts)

Oh and walkingbuffalo, how about jumpingpound creek as an example? 0 limit on rainbows to anglers outside the project, unlimited for officially 'qualified' anglers.

I'm not calling everyone who hasn't taken/passed the test stupid, I'm just saying it's better to be sure about it than let a couple people who can't ID their fish going in and taking 20 threatened fish out of a system