Winterkilled lakes

[SNAPFisher]

Hey all, this was posted on the Fishing forum and thought it deserved a look here:

http://mywildalberta.com/Fishing/Sum...FishKills.aspx

Sad for sure. I didn't have any plans to fish these lakes but I have in the past. For those of you that frequent them - sucks! I hope for a speedy recovery...

Going to fish the bow this week coming up. Hoping for some action. I'll report back.

[Mr Flyguy]

This more than sucks. All that effort to make Muir into a class fishery, with some really nice sized browns showing as well, all for naught.

Just because some lefties wanted to make sure that idiots* who ignore warning signs wouldn't fall into holes and sue. *Darwin sure was right about natural selection.

Isn't there anything that we can do to stop the stupidity in controlling our lives?

[FlyTheory]

Originally Posted by Mr Flyguy

Just because some lefties wanted to make sure that idiots* who ignore warning signs wouldn't fall into holes and sue. *Darwin sure was right about natural selection.

Lol wouldn't it make sense then that natural selection has removed fish that aren't suitable for Muir? So looks like the left is allowing for some natural selection don't worry though I'm joking, I'm not surprised this happened, nor am I pleased.

[Don Andersen]

Originally Posted by Mr Flyguy

This more than sucks. All that effort to make Muir into a class fishery, with some really nice sized browns showing as well, all for naught.

Just because some lefties wanted to make sure that idiots* who ignore warning signs wouldn't fall into holes and sue. *Darwin sure was right about natural selection.

Isn't there anything that we can do to stop the stupidity in controlling our lives?

The Govt of Alberta prepared and issued a Areation Policy in record time this past fall. The policy was designed protect Areation users. The policy kept the lakes in NW of Alberta alive using the pre-existing Areation units.
The ACA and SRD didn't cooperate in the Hinton/Edson, Edmonton or Rocky areas and the lakes died.
The question that should be asked is why the NW region got it done and the other areas failed.

[michaelmicallef]

What a bunch of idiots. I can't believe Beaver got killed. What a bunch of b-----ds that what I say. And they expect me to buy a licence what a joke.

[troutbug]

Originally Posted by Don Andersen

The Govt of Alberta prepared and issued a Areation Policy in record time this past fall. The policy was designed protect Areation users. The policy kept the lakes in NW of Alberta alive using the pre-existing Areation units.
The ACA and SRD didn't cooperate in the Hinton/Edson, Edmonton or Rocky areas and the lakes died.
The question that should be asked is why the NW region got it done and the other areas failed.

What lakes around Hinton died?

[SNAPFisher]

Originally Posted by troutbug

What lakes around Hinton died?

•Fiesta Lake
•Beaver Lake
•Ironside Pond
•Millers Lake <--
•Muir Lake

[Dragless]

Originally Posted by Don Andersen

The Govt of Alberta prepared and issued a Areation Policy in record time this past fall. The policy was designed protect Areation users. The policy kept the lakes in NW of Alberta alive using the pre-existing Areation units.
The ACA and SRD didn't cooperate in the Hinton/Edson, Edmonton or Rocky areas and the lakes died.
The question that should be asked is why the NW region got it done and the other areas failed.

Yeah what the heck is going sure feels like there is lack of management on the lakes in the nW especially the stocked lakes

[ecsuplander]

According to this news release the government put some conditions in place which needed to be followed in order to aerate lakes. The below is copied from a Nov 15, 2015 press release.
These requirements include:

Public notices must be placed in local and regional newspapers;
Signage must be erected on every public access to aerated lakes;
Fences must be erected around aerator(s);
Signage must appear on all fences located on ice; and
Winter fishing events on aerated lakes require the posting of a guard(s) at fences.

Would this press release not indicate that lake aeration was still allowable if the above were adhered to?

[Mr Flyguy]

Maybe heads, other than fish heads, should be rolling after this screw up?

[donegalblue]

I was hoping to read see that this came out on 1st of April as some sort of a joke. Sadly not.

[Don Andersen]

Folks, take 10 minutes and write the Minister asking why the lakes in the NW survived and the others in Alberta did not.

And I read this line in the Wild Albert Kill report. Anybody know what this might mean?

"Fisheries Management Objectives may need to be adjusted to reflect reliability of aeration completed by the Alberta Conservation Association on these lakes."


Don

[FisherPotch]

I have a feeling it means they are going to put the blame on the ACA and reconsider their status.

[calgarygringo]

I heard from a reliable source today that Yellowhead got hit too.

Originally Posted by SNAPFisher

•Fiesta Lake
•Beaver Lake
•Ironside Pond
•Millers Lake <--
•Muir Lake

[fishman]

East dollar is dead to

[SNAPFisher]

Originally Posted by Don Andersen

Folks, take 10 minutes and write the Minister asking why the lakes in the NW survived and the others in Alberta did not.

And I read this line in the Wild Albert Kill report. Anybody know what this might mean?

"Fisheries Management Objectives may need to be adjusted to reflect reliability of aeration completed by the Alberta Conservation Association on these lakes."


Don

Good idea. I'll send one out this week.

[donegalblue]

Could someone please explain what happened differently this year to other years for the lakes to end up like this? I would like to take the gentleman's advice and also write a letter if there was some human factor or negligence but I done know the facts. I am very annoyed though whatever the reason. I regularly fish Muir lake and enjoyed it thoroughly. For all those lovely big hard fighting trout to be wasted is ridiculous.

Also how do they know that all the trout have been killed. If I walked down there would I see anything? Will they remove the dead trout or is that up to nature?

[Exploits]

I'm fishing BC this year, at least there are fish to catch. Do not give these incompetent idiots one more penny. My question is, would they not be held liable during the rest of the year? If someone falls off a dock or drowns in the lake isn't it the same thing? The docks do not have handrails or ropes, and a person could climb over them anyway.

[Chief16]

Originally Posted by Exploits

I'm fishing BC this year, at least there are fish to catch. Do not give these incompetent idiots one more penny. My question is, would they not be held liable during the rest of the year? If someone falls off a dock or drowns in the lake isn't it the same thing? The docks do not have handrails or ropes, and a person could climb over them anyway.

This is a very interesting point that I hadn't thought of before

[Mr Flyguy]

[QUOTE=Don Andersen;3191945]Folks, take 10 minutes and write the Minister asking why the lakes in the NW survived and the others in Alberta did not.

My letter is in the mail today. My basic stance was that ACA and SRD failed to conserve and sustain these valuable fisheries.

[Don Andersen]

Been trying to figure out why the Biologists from the Edson/Hinton, Edmonton and Rocky areas didn't cooperate with the ACA like the guys did in NW Alberta which successfully kept the lakes alive.
I'm sure you are aware of the extreme dislike the Govt Fisheries and Wildlife bunch have for the ACA. I just wonder if the lack of cooperation was an attempt to **** all over the ACA. Would've worked too except that the folks representing 3 agencies cooperated in the NW. Tough to make that argument when faced with a success.

Called a senior official within Fisheries in an attempt to get an ORG. Chart. Apparently it doesn't exist. Biologists can and will do what they want with little to no control. They do have a "peer" group meets yearly to discuss various issues. This peer group will have some input into the biologist game plan. But as I pointed out, peer reviews takes years to remove a Doctor that is killing people. I can't just guess how long it might take to remove a crappy biologist. As a result of little to no supervision, the biologists decided that the Policy created in record time + cooperation wasn't going to happen. The angler got crapped on. When the official said that this was just a hiccup in Alberta's fishery, I pointed out that a UP it was just not a HIC. The official also suggested that this was all the ACA's fault. What crap.

At this point in the Rocky Mountain House area Beaver, Fiesta, Ironside, Alford are dead. Mitchell and Birch are hanging on. We won't know of the extent of the kill till ice off.

To make matters a whole lot worse, most of the other trout lakes have been illegally stocked with perch. This really means that there is no place to go except for Fish, Goldeye and Peppers. Struble, Cow, Tay, Phyllis, Twin and now Crimson lakes are now all polluted with perch. Forty years this have been going on and still not a damn thing done.

While the loss of fishery is certainly important to the angler the ripple effect spreads much wider.

1] A lot of people spend upwards of a week each year targeting the aerated lakes in the Caroline area. Those tourist $'s are gone.
2] The cost of the ACA non-effective aeration equipment might run @ $10,000 per unit with installation costs/unit exceeding $1,000. There were 12 lakes with units placed. Many of the lakes had two or more. Assuming 2 average, that is $240,000 in materials and another $24,000 in labour. This is of course on top of the cost of installation and removal of the per-existing units.
3] The loss of fish probably exceeds $10,000

In conclusion, the lack of ACA/SRD cooperation failed the angler, decreased tourist $'s & cost in excess of $250,000 for non effective equipment, destroyed the fisheries resources that will cost near $10,000 to replace.
The question remains - why?


Regards,


Don

[badger]

Fundamentally there is *NO* accountability within the government organization, as indicated by the intent to "adjust objectives". When a job is not required to achieve any results, only the least qualified and incompetent will tolerate this position, particularly over decades. Consider Isobel.

Lacking any oversight by authorities, with no incentive to improve, and no threat of job loss, there will only be changes to further entrench the people who should be held responsible for this utter failure. They will close ranks to protect their positions. Don, thanks for trying.

[Don Andersen]

Badger,
Clearly you and I see accountability and responsibility to do the job a lot different from some govt workers.
About time their performance standards match those in the private sector.

Don

[rycoma]

Don
The answer is quite clear. How do you increase your funding/budget? Secure you job? You make a reason for it being needed. I have seen it to many times with diferent organizations. If we dont spend it how do we figure we will ask for more next year. It is really a shame and its too bad there is no accountability for this. Someone in charge of this should be charged for wasting the flesh of these fish

[WhitefishLady]

This is really sad. I didn't realize there was this animosity between the govt and ACA (I'm a consultant biologist). That's too bad the anglers and the fishery has to suffer due to lack of cooperation. Might increase fishing pressure on the streams now. As far as I know Manitoba does an amazing job managing their stocked trout lakes. Someday me and my float tube are going for a visit.

[ecsuplander]

Any idea how they manage the issues created by Sec 263 criminal code , as this is a Federal Law? Do they hope that the potential for litigation is so low that there is almost no chance of being sued. There have been two litigated cases( in over 30 years) involving this law and neither of these involved ice, each were related to open excavations. I am assuming that no one has discovered the reasons behind one area of the province using aeration and others areas not. Are these aerations units all operated by the ACA or were the ones running in the NW operated by some other organization? Was this a case of the ACA and the government unable to work to some workable solution? Just curious.

[Exploits]

Make sure to email the minister with your complaints. Maybe the Nutly gov't will disband these bunch of idiots along with the other useless agencies in Alberta. There needs to be major reform and then maybe they will work together to actually protect fish stocks rather than cushy gov't jobs.

[RisingRainbows]

Not to mention the increased pressure on trout streams do to winterkilled lakes; impacting the fish and the habitat...

[lyallpeder]

Is that the bever lake by lac la biche?

[skykomish sunrise]

Off the trout topic but still odd in the fact we had one of the most mild winters in recent history and yet jackfish lake near stony killed this year as well. I can't figure out what's going on. With this warm winter there is no way some of these lakes should have killed