A letter to the ERSD Minister

[PikePinkster]

I live in Calgary-Klein where Kyle Fawcett​ is seeking reelection. Kyle most recently served as Minister for Environment and Sustainable Resource Development. This evening I wrote a letter to Kyle that I am happy to share with you. I apologize that my letter includes little scientific information, but I've always felt like a reelection campaign is a terrific time to share our opinions with those that would seek to represent us. I am very interested in also hearing your opinions and perspectives on the points I raise below!

Good evening Kyle,

I have been a PC supporter for a number of years, and I have been very active on the campaign for your colleague Rick Fraser in Calgary SE. Last year I moved to Calgary-Klein and have been familiarizing myself with the riding and the candidates.

I have studied the platforms of the candidates in Calgary-Klein and voting for you is an obvious choice. That being said, I did want to share some thoughts with you about Alberta's fisheries. I appreciate that you may not be the Minister for ERSD once the dust settles on this campaign, but I still would like you to hear my perspective on the matter.

Alberta's natural resources are one of our most precious commodities. When we say that we are generally talking about oil, but it is important to note that our fresh water and the fish that live in those waters also have real economic and environmental benefit to the province of Alberta. From oil and gas to fresh water to fisheries, we have a lot of room to improve.

Having grown up in southern Alberta I have seen the mismanagement of many of our fisheries. Walleye populations in some reservoirs have been decimated, and healthy pike populations have also taken a beating. The same can be seen in many of our world class trout fisheries where over harvesting and other pressures have put some of these resources in great jeopardy. It seems as though we are responding to a crisis that could have been averted had we taken a more proactive approach to the management of our fisheries.

Alberta has the capability of producing world class trophy fisheries for a number of species. I have always questioned why many of our fishing regulations focus on size minimums for harvest instead of slot sizes, a max # over a certain size or even a size maximum. We take some of the largest fish out of our fisheries and leave behind fish that are more plentiful and often have better quality meat.

I appreciate that a healthy balance needs to exist. More large fish in a fishery can often mean fewer total fish. For too long we have taken a "once size fits all" approach to fishing regulations in this province. I appreciate that fisheries do not have the budget or the resources to respond to each and every body of water in this province, but I worry about the long term health of our fisheries. Alberta experiences some of the most dramatic population growth rates in the entire country, and with this will come increased pressure on our local fisheries.

I do not really have a call to action for you in this email, I simply hope that my opinion resonates with you as you pursue reelection. I sincerely hope the government of Alberta continues to respond to the needs of Albertans and continues to find sustainable solutions to govern our precious resources.

All the best on your re-election campaign Kyle. Calgary-Klein has certainly benefited from your strong representation over the last number of years.

Thanks as always,
Jordan Pinkster

[cube]

I live in Calgary-Klein where Kyle Fawcett​ is seeking reelection. Kyle most recently served as Minister for Environment and Sustainable Resource Development. This evening I wrote a letter to Kyle that I am happy to share with you. I apologize that my letter includes little scientific information, but I've always felt like a reelection campaign is a terrific time to share our opinions with those that would seek to represent us. I am very interested in also hearing your opinions and perspectives on the points I raise below!

Good evening Kyle,

I have been a PC supporter for a number of years, and I have been very active on the campaign for your colleague Rick Fraser in Calgary SE. Last year I moved to Calgary-Klein and have been familiarizing myself with the riding and the candidates.

I have studied the platforms of the candidates in Calgary-Klein and voting for you is an obvious choice. That being said, I did want to share some thoughts with you about Alberta's fisheries. I appreciate that you may not be the Minister for ERSD once the dust settles on this campaign, but I still would like you to hear my perspective on the matter.

Alberta's natural resources are one of our most precious commodities. When we say that we are generally talking about oil, but it is important to note that our fresh water and the fish that live in those waters also have real economic and environmental benefit to the province of Alberta. From oil and gas to fresh water to fisheries, we have a lot of room to improve.

Having grown up in southern Alberta I have seen the mismanagement of many of our fisheries. Walleye populations in some reservoirs have been decimated, and healthy pike populations have also taken a beating. The same can be seen in many of our world class trout fisheries where over harvesting and other pressures have put some of these resources in great jeopardy. It seems as though we are responding to a crisis that could have been averted had we taken a more proactive approach to the management of our fisheries.

Alberta has the capability of producing world class trophy fisheries for a number of species. I have always questioned why many of our fishing regulations focus on size minimums for harvest instead of slot sizes, a max # over a certain size or even a size maximum. We take some of the largest fish out of our fisheries and leave behind fish that are more plentiful and often have better quality meat.

I appreciate that a healthy balance needs to exist. More large fish in a fishery can often mean fewer total fish. For too long we have taken a "once size fits all" approach to fishing regulations in this province. I appreciate that fisheries do not have the budget or the resources to respond to each and every body of water in this province, but I worry about the long term health of our fisheries. Alberta experiences some of the most dramatic population growth rates in the entire country, and with this will come increased pressure on our local fisheries.

I do not really have a call to action for you in this email, I simply hope that my opinion resonates with you as you pursue reelection. I sincerely hope the government of Alberta continues to respond to the needs of Albertans and continues to find sustainable solutions to govern our precious resources.

All the best on your re-election campaign Kyle. Calgary-Klein has certainly benefited from your strong representation over the last number of years.

Thanks as always,
Jordan Pinkster

I though the same way as you. In a nut shell the reason we have the slot sizes (over a certain cm# is a slot) that we do in Alberta is from a study that was done a few years ago now. In that study they found NO fish were getting past the minimum of the slot to get bigger. Hence they picked a slot where the species in question would have the chance to spawn a number of times before being harvested. After the study was completed they felt that if they picked a slot of say 35 cm no fish would get past it and no spawning fish would be left, hence in a couple of years you would have a total collapse.

As for lake specific regs, I know of no other province that has more than Alberta, which makes it very confusing already.

At the end, like you alluded to, a number of these problems could be addressed with more funding for ESRD field staff to manage and enforce what we all cherish.

[Cory1]

Please keep us posted if you hear anything back as a number of us share the same sentiments.

[Walleye101]

Very well said.

[PikePinkster]

I though the same way as you. In a nut shell the reason we have the slot sizes (over a certain cm# is a slot) that we do in Alberta is from a study that was done a few years ago now. In that study they found NO fish were getting past the minimum of the slot to get bigger. Hence they picked a slot where the species in question would have the chance to spawn a number of times before being harvested. After the study was completed they felt that if they picked a slot of say 35 cm no fish would get past it and no spawning fish would be left, hence in a couple of years you would have a total collapse.

As for lake specific regs, I know of no other province that has more than Alberta, which makes it very confusing already.

At the end, like you alluded to, a number of these problems could be addressed with more funding for ESRD field staff to manage and enforce what we all cherish.

If this is in fact the case, than don't we need to reexamine the amount that are harvested? If they identified that were not reaching spawning age, shouldn't they just cut down the total number you could harvest?

I'm a catch and release fishermen through and through, so I naturally have a bit of a bias here. I have been to a few trophy trout lakes that are strictly C&R in Central Alberta. I would love to see similar trophy lakes for other species as well.

[cube]

If this is in fact the case, than don't we need to reexamine the amount that are harvested? If they identified that were not reaching spawning age, shouldn't they just cut down the total number you could harvest? Yes and we use both systems here. ie tags to carefully control over harvest on some lakes and on others they use a slot size and limit (usually 1 over a certain size) that would ensure adequate spawning

I'm a catch and release fishermen through and through, so I naturally have a bit of a bias here. I have been to a few trophy trout lakes that are strictly C&R in Central Alberta. I would love to see similar trophy lakes for other species as well.Agreed. Though not all would agree with us. .