I have little faith in stats posted relating to SRD. The main reason being is pure and simple... FUNDING ! It is much easier to get funding for a study on a "Species At Risk" or better yet an "Endangered Species", than it is to get funding for studying fish or wildlife that has a healthy or increasing population. With all the cuts SRD has undergone, it's not hard to see why there would be an extra effort by biologists to make the "Everythings At Risk" idea predominant in order to keep their jobs for being the next to come under the axe... " You Need Us... To Study Things... And Save You From Yourselves"... I just don't buy it.
Has anyone ever questioned why there is a "0 Limmit" for walleye on the NSR from Drayton Valley to the Sask. border ? It's sure not because of low walleye populations... There may be a lower creel count within Edmonton city limmits, but that doesn't account for the hundreds of miles of river with a healthy walleye population blanketed under this closure. Even on the Bow river, I believe there were several fish management areas within Calgary city limmits. So why the blanket closure on such a large portion of the NSR ?
Now put that in conjunction with an attempt (got shot down)at bringing in a Bait Ban on the NSR this past winter... Well call me a Conspiracy Theorist, but I've just seen too many things as of late that lead me to believe that most of our biologist honestly think our fish and wildlife is there only for them to photograph and study, and not to be caught or shot (unless it bennifits their studies to a gerater extent)
I went out for 4 hours on Sunday with my girlfriend,,, We caught 4 sturgeon, lost another 4, caught 17 walleye, 5 goldeye, and 2 suckers....
It's too bad there aren't many fish left in the NSR...
