Emotions ran high and anger and frustration at times spilled over as 350 to 400 people packed into Lac Bellevue hall on Sept. 7 at a meeting to discuss underutilized fish stocks and zero catch limits.
Anglers from across the northeast region and politicians such as Lac-La Biche-St. Paul-Two Hills MLA Dave Hanson, Bonnyville-Cold Lake MLA Scott Cyr, County of St. Paul Reeve Steve Upham, Lac La Biche County Mayor Omer Moghrabi, and Cold Lake Mayor Craig Copeland were all in attendance.
“We have to take everything from this meeting, and find a solution for these anglers,” said Ray Makowecki, a former Fish and Wildlife biologist who was one of three main drivers of the meeting. He said his hope was to see regulations change for next year, so people could go to a lake and catch a walleye to eat. “The no limit situation is completely unacceptable, and change needs to happen soon.”
Several lakes across Alberta are still listed as collapsed walleye fisheries including Lac Bellevue, Lac La Biche lake, Moose Lake, Seibert Lake and Kehewin Lake among others, but many anglers believe the data to support that is very inaccurate. Many presented stories of how they have travelled to several lakes listed as collapsed, and they are only able to catch walleye, a fish with a zero catch limit. Concerns of wasted fish stocks were further agitated after the massive fish kill at Stoney Lake a few weeks ago, which saw an estimated 60 dead fish per metre of shoreline.
Gary Padlesky, a local business owner and an avid angler, was one of a number of people making the point that the limits in Alberta are driving people to fish out of the province. At one point during the meeting, the anglers were asked if they held a Saskatchewan fishing license, and a large majority of the room raised their hands.
“I have a lot of fishing experience, and the regulations in Alberta as well as the biologists are missing the mark,” said Padlesky, who also expressed his frustration that no representative from the NDP government was in attendance. “It seems as though the more that people put pressure on biologists and Fish and Wildlife, they seem to dig their heels in and ignore what they are saying, which I don’t understand. I have little to no faith in Alberta Fish and Wildlife after my experiences with them.”
Mackowecki expressed the same concern about the mindset of government representatives who seem to ignore the anglers that have input on the issue.
“It’s always a concern when people contact fish biologists and are ignored; that’s a problem. They are civil servants and they work for the people.”
After a collapse in the walleye population, which is a deep lake fish that is an apex predator to perch and pike fish, Alberta Fish and Wildlife biologists designated many lakes in the area as “collapsed” and about 20 years ago, brought in the stiffer regulations around zero catch limits, tag systems and size limitations on all species of fish.
Lac Bellevue was one of the many small local lakes questioned, as a handful of anglers expressed the fact that although it’s designated as a collapsed walleye fishery, anglers can go out on the lake and catch nothing but walleye.
“I know that Lac Bellevue was stocked with walleye sometime during the 1960s, and it seemed like once the population became established in the lake and started to get out of control, they decided to call it collapsed and protect them,” said Padlesky, adding that “They now say that they are against stocking because it can wreck ecosystems.”
The anglers at the meeting believed that if regulations were properly adjusted, it would make it a little easier to control the ecosystems and fish populations.
Anglers were asked to provide suggestions for changes, and each one was voted on. Support was widespread for opening most lakes to a one catch per person day limit, as the frustration for many anglers was based on just how difficult it is to catch a fish that you can keep on local lakes. Among the other supported suggestions was controlling for cormorants, a predatory bird, improved habitats and protecting water levels, and a maximum size limit.
Suggestions that had little to no support included: a short catch and keep season, leaving lakes closed to the consumptive public angler, and a tag lottery on the smaller lakes. The reason why an existing regulation such as a tag lottery was not supported was due to the low odds of getting a tag at any lake because of how high the participation in the lottery will be.
Makowecki says that the majority of anglers are not concerned about catching a big fish, but rather do it as a sport and hobby, as well as for consumptive purposes.
“The anglers here want to leave the bigger fish in the water to breed, and they are happy to catch a smaller fish when they get to take it with them and eat it.”
The issue of pumping ground water into smaller lakes that are struggling to maintain water levels such as Upper and Lower Mann Lake was presented to County of St. Paul Reeve Steve Upham.
“It would be a long process, and the whole idea is a long shot, but if the group wants to get organized and try to get approval from Alberta Environment, it would at least put existing infrastructure to some use,” said Upham. “The fisheries in the County of St. Paul are very important to us, they bring a lot of people to the area.”
MLA David Hanson expressed his displeasure with a number of things that he heard at the meeting in regards to how the concerns of anglers are being handled.
“These issues need to be brought to light. Hearing these stories and other stories I’ve heard its clear that Fish and Wildlife officers need a change of attitude. The current regulations are ridiculous and archaic. We all have to work together and fight to make change happen.”
Hanson said the same about the way fish are counted on lakes, as they are netted and then destroyed by biologists, which takes thousands of fish out of the lakes.
“There has to be a better way than wasting fish; with all of the technology we have today, there must be an alternative and it needs to be used.”
Makowecki says that after what he saw at the meeting, it was pretty clear what the anglers wanted, and organizers must sift through and interpret all the information, to find the best way to move forward.
“Clearly there is plenty of support from not only the anglers but the local governments as well,” he said. “We have all parties onside and we need to go to the government with a strategy and hopefully get a response.”
