A couple of things
1] I understand Steelhead's pain. I've watched the elected officials of Alberta gut SRD time after time.
2] In the 55 years I've fished Alberta, I've caught 20" trout in most lakes. They weren't trophy or even quality, they were pan sized.
3] After experiencing SRD continuously screwing up the size of fish in our lakes, a Quality Lake Policy was developed in an attempt to kick start SRD back on track. To this point, the jury is still out. Beaver Lake has now been managed to a third of the size requirement for a Quality Lake. And yes there were studies after studies, netting after netting and creel census after creel census. Can SRD really manage a lake to provide fish over 20"? Still waiting for some evidence.
Enforcement is not about petitions, it's about getting off your butt and raising the money to get more enforcement in the field. Streamwatch programs exist because sportsman care. The Streamwatch program has nearly doubled the presence of enforcement people in the eastern slopes of Alberta.
Lakes the raise larger fish are few and widely scattered. At least one of them was completed w/o much effort by SRD other than meetings.
regards,
Don
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