New 2019 Fishing Regs out

[trigger7mm]

Originally Posted by AK47

I wonder if somebody thought about impact of zero limits on Alberta's economy. For example - good few years ago I was looking into buying a boat and spending significant amount of money on it, but since most lakes were changed to zero limits around here it just did not make any sense to me to spend that money on a boat which I could use for catch and release only. Because of zero limits I spent way less money on gear, gas and other fishing related expenses and generally fished only rivers and way less than before.
I possibly will buy a boat only after retiring and moving somewhere where fishing regulations are making more sense ( again spending and supporting some businesses in some other province.).
Granted, I am just a single example, thus it would be interesting if somebody else made similar decisions since zero limits hit lakes and reservoirs in most of Alberta.

I feel the same way. Was going to buy a new boat a few years ago, but on second thought didn’t think it was worth it. Don’t fish nearly as much as I used to.

[deercamp]

Originally Posted by Hunter guy

Wrong, your dead wrong about how to manage fish,we couldn’t manage a goldfish here, look at Saskatchewan they have healthy lakes I’ve been going to one for 24years and the regs hasn’t changed once and to this day you can still catch keep and eat, like for years here we had 10 pike per person who in the hell came up with that one!??was 3 now 1 or 0 somewhere along the line they’re not focused, it’s a laugh, maybe don’t have a stupid size limit 63cm and over is our breeding fish,that we keep full of eggs, Saskatchewan say keep the breeding old stock and take any size fish like it’s common sense

Read previous posts of angler per lake in each province. Comparing saskatchewan to alberta is not relevant what so ever.

[Mr Flyguy]

Originally Posted by deercamp

Saskatchewan has 94,000 fish-bearing lakes,
with about 184,000 licensed anglers,
or 1.9 anglers per lake.

Alberta has only 800 lakes with fish,
but 250,000 licenced anglers, or
312 anglers per lake.

This right here explains it all. Couple that with FN netting and you have nothing left.

No management solution in the world can compete with those ratios.

These ratios are kind of meaningless because Alberta has lots of rivers for anglers.

[Dewey Cox]

Originally Posted by Mr Flyguy

These ratios are kind of meaningless because Alberta has lots of rivers for anglers.

Not sure if he's being serious or sarcastic...

[deercamp]

Originally Posted by Mr Flyguy

These ratios are kind of meaningless because Alberta has lots of rivers for anglers.

lol. 97000 more? assuming you are joking. And if you aren't, they are all also zero possession for all desirable game fish.

[deercamp]

Furthermore Sask shares almost every river body we do.. give your head a shake

[pikeman06]

Anybody think it has to do with the new metis deal?

[RavYak]

Originally Posted by pikeman06

Anybody think it has to do with the new metis deal?

No. Fisheries has been reducing limits significantly every year for a while now.

Some of these lakes aren't surprising, some others just make no sense. Remote lakes that see next to no fishing pressure and now C&R... Won't change a thing...

[Supergrit]

Originally Posted by pikeman06

Anybody think it has to do with the new metis deal?

The fishing regulations have been getting stricter on keeping fish for a long time and the regs are different for so many places.
The good thing is all the sportsmen who can’t keep auhfjbg at all with a fishing rod will make some nice fat fish when the nets get put in the lakes.

[wildwoods]

I am so tired of the revenue streaming draw system. Yes it works on some lakes. But the fact Pigeon still has zero retention and millions of 18-22" fish is beyond ridiculous. Yet we line up and fork over for the stupid draw every year. No more for me until they get it right.
Shutting down North Wabasca is incredibly frustrating and makes me lose a lot of interesting in packing up the gear and heading north. I'm sure I'm not alone there and that will have negative impact on the local economy there. Why not just dial it back a little if there's an issue? These knee jerk, non proactive shut downs are super frustrating.

[ghostguy6]

No more tags for me anymore either. Personally I wish they would just issue one or two tags good province wide with every license sold rather than the draws we have now.

[Salavee]

Originally Posted by Mister Bee

I feel sorry for my young kids, as I have been hunting and fishing my whole life. However, every year when you look at the regulations and see what is actually allowed to be retained it is getting harder and harder to get the energy to go fishing. Lately I feel like my money is either better spent on other things or kept in my account. Alberta fisheries is a joke.

. Interesting. I just read an article in an old (1989) Alberta Fishing & Hunting magazine ( which, I believe, is the predecessor to Alberta Outdoorsmen Magazine) where the author predicted todays Alberta Walleye scenario almost to a tee. It seems Albertas limited "fish factories" were'nt productive enough to keep up with the demand levels even at that time. Now that demand has quadrupled since then, it's no wonder we are experiencing the present situation. Far from a joke!

[RavYak]

Originally Posted by Salavee

. Interesting. I just read an article in an old (1989) Alberta Fishing & Hunting magazine ( which, I believe, is the predecessor to Alberta Outdoorsmen Magazine) where the author predicted todays Alberta Walleye scenario almost to a tee. It seems Albertas limited "fish factories" were'nt productive enough to keep up with the demand levels even at that time. Now that demand has quadrupled since then, it's no wonder we are experiencing the present situation. Far from a joke!

Demand hasn't quadrupled since 1989. In fact there are less anglers now and far stricter regulations and more C&R mentality leading to far fewer fish being kept. You would probably be closer if you said catch and keep fishing pressure is 1/4 of what it was back then(if that).

The number of anglers peaked in the early 80's at around 357k. The lakes couldn't take the fishing pressure and they collapsed. The number of anglers declined as fishing became poor and the number of anglers declined to around 200k and has since been crawling its way back up to where it is now at 300k.



Since then fisheries has recovered many if not most of the lakes(at least in terms of walleye) and they are so worried about another collapse that they have pushed us to a C&R, tags only format and imo are totally writing off the fish producing capability of these lakes(which recovered fish populations to where they are now with the previous limits in place...).

I believe our fisheries are capable of sustaining catch and keep fishing pressure. Some of our lakes are not good walleye lakes and can barely sustain fishing pressure even with tags. I personally would have no issue with walleye being fished out of said lakes and those lakes becoming better pike/perch lakes(which is what happened to a number of lakes in the 90's/00's until all the walleye recovered and took lakes over which has significantly hurt pike and perch populations).