I was just chatting with a buddy that has some inside information on this matter and he confirmed most of my thoughts about this situation.
Angling pressure has had little effect on many of these areas. The Clearwater had massive flood damage in 2013 and the Ram and Kakwa see limited fishing pressure due to tough access. Most of these rivers still have significantly better fishing then they have in recent years/decades and there is no reason for them to be closed.
The reason that angling closures have been proposed is because it is the easiest and only cost free avenue that makes AEP look like they are taking the proper steps to improving these waterbodies/fisheries... Fixing damaged habitat, improving spawning and wintering locations, fixing culverts etc all costs money but fishing bans are free... Sure they don't solve anything and they will create other issues but like in all politics the politicians need to pretend they are getting stuff done hence why these closures have been proposed...
I highly encourage everyone to register and vote no to these river closures. We didn't get a say on the Pembina closure(not that I was aware of anyways) but we can have our voices heard on these proposed closures. If we don't sway their minds then almost guaranteed there will be more closures in the coming years especially when the fishing pressure doubles and triples on the few remaining open bull trout rivers etc...
If you have direct knowledge of these fisheries or other thoughtful incites on why these bans should not happen then also email John Tchir at
john.tchir@gov.ab.ca. I am told he is the man calling the shots on this program so we need to call their bluff and demand data to back up these closures and proof as to why fishing closures are the best and only way to improve these waterbodies. Fishing closures should be a last resort, not the first remedy tried...