[Mussel]

It is sometimes difficult to explain but please know that our industry is carefully controlled and monitored so that the netting of fish is rarely ever detrimental to the resourse. We are carefully monitored and limited to what we catch to avoid overproducing on any specie. Commercial fishing in Alberta is amongst the oldest of our industries and is responsible for the start of many of our communities. Our nets help to maintain a balanced fish population in our lakes. If you consider that some of the very best angling lakes in Alberta have been fished commercially for over 50 years you might begin to understand that we actually enhance angling opportunities by helping to keep a balanced eco-system.
We have other lakes that were fished commercially, Siebert Lake and Gods Lake are examples. These lakes were turned into trophy lakes for angling. Within a few years we see very few trophy fish caught on these lakes. Without the balanced population the angling opportunities diminished and now the sports fishing on those lakes are not as good as it was during the time that the lake was commercially fished.
If you consider the cases of Utikima Lake, South Wabaska Lake, Brintnall Lake and Winnagami Lake. These lakes have all experienced devastating winter kills. The fish populations got so high that the lake did not have enough oxygen to last for the winter and millions of pounds of fish died. These fish were of all species and could have fed a lot of people if we had been allowed to harvest them.
As commercial fishers we would like to work with the anglers of Alberta to do what is best for everybody. On a lake like Lesser Slave Lake we need to see the anglers take more of the game fish to make it easier for us to avoid them. A big reason for the nets being set at a time where the burbot were caught is that there are far too many walleye in L.S.L. and our traditional seasons had to be changed to avoid the walleye whose population is out of control. We ask that the anglers of our province be allowed to catch more Walleye on L.S.L. but our biologists have told us that it is better to let the population starve than for them to increase the anglers quota. It makes no sense to us but as long as anglers and commercial fishers have no forum in which we can work together cooperatively we will continue to misunderstand each other and that is a shame.