Quote:
Originally Posted by Winch101
You wont get an answer because there is no problem
This fishery is not in any jeopardy , doesnt need protection
maybe only from poachers .... The people who think there
is a problem have no formal education to back these thoughts up.
no degree in biology , ichtology.... etc. just speculation
and personal if albeit somewhat selfish agendas . I think the " Wearing two hats " question has some validity .
I base my info on the fact that you can catch 50 to 100 walleyes a day there mostly not legal size ....yet...doesnt look or sound like a lake in crisis to me ...If you have 80 boats at these tourneys ...70 are in that creek pounding it out , a little intense so just close it for the tourneys .....
All this situation shows me that in Alberta these factless crusades
particularly in natural resources are a problem and bring pressure to bear on
hapless Govt employees and do affect sound reasoning and judgement..
example Ted Morton and Hunting...
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W101, that's the point. It is a healthy fishery and it should stay that way. As has been already posted on this thread, the Travers tourney date has been progressively getting earlier and earlier. Just from the SAWT website, you can pull out the dates from past tourneys.
June 17-18, 2006
June 16-17, 2007
June 14-15, 2008
June 13-14, 2009
May 15-16, 2010
May 28-29, 2011
As has been stated this is through no fault of SAWT as they are given the date when they get a license. The problem is that we have had a late spawn the last couple of years, and an early tournament which has many knowledgeable and skilled fisherman who have forgot more about Walleye fishing than many of us will ever know. So it's a perfect storm of guys who know how and when to catch fish, catching as many fish as possible, during their post-spawn recovery period.
So the fact that it may be a healthy fishery today does not mean that it won't be a healthy fishery in a couple of years if nothing is done to protect the vulnerable fish.
Do you have a degree in biology? Even if you do, have you done the amount of the data collection, test netting etc. that would be required to formulate an "educated" opinion on the fishery? If you answered no to any of the previous questions, then your opinion that there is no problem is no less speculation than any of the other opinions on here stating that there is a problem.
The fact that a regulation change is coming is enough proof to me that there is a problem.