Alberta’s provincial fish could soon join the ranks of Woodland Caribou and hundreds of other plants and animals across Canada listed under the Species at Risk Act.
Public consultations for the Saskatchewan-Nelson rivers population of Bull trout began last week, three years after the population was first assessed as “threatened” by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC).
“Marine fish species that have any commercial interest are never listed by the federal minister,” said Dr. John Post, co-chair of COSEWIC and professor at the University of Calgary.
“The pattern has been that the federal minister [for Environment Canada] has not been listing things over the past several years. In other words, there is a larger and larger back log of unlisted species.”
Leona Aglukkaq, minister of the environment, did not return an email for comment.
The highly colourful, cold-water fish inhabits an area that stretches from the northern part of Nevada to the Northwest Territories, including British Columbia and western Alberta.
“It’s the aquatic icon for Alberta,” said Post. “Many would suggest it’s a pretty reasonable measure, as the canary in the mine shaft. If we can’t maintain high quality water in our streams and lakes in the Rocky Mountains, the Bull trout will be first to go.”
Primarily found in the drainages of the North and South Saskatchewan rivers, the population is under threat because of fragmented river systems caused by dams and roads, as well as the introduction of Eastern Brook trout, a non-native species.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services described its habitat as, “cold, clean, complex and connected.”
Other human development, such as oil and gas, forestry, mining, roads and hydroelectric projects have also played a significant role in the decline of the population by increasing siltation and water temperatures. A decrease in the volume of water that flows through rivers and streams has also been linked to the population’s decline.
Over fishing and poaching also remain a threat, despite a catch and release policy that was implemented in Alberta in 1995, said Post.
“Bull trout is a very interesting species, particularly in Alberta because it’s the Alberta fish,” said Peter Rodger, a Species at Risk biologist for Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
“It’s been raised from what was originally considered to be a junk species. They used to try to eradicate Bull trout because it was felt the Bull trout were killing off, feeding on and predating all of the valuable sport fish, which turned out to be the introduced fish.”
Before adding the Saskatchewan-Nelson rivers population of Bull trout to the List of Wildlife Species at Risk, Fisheries and Oceans Canada must first complete public consultations to determine the possible ecological, cultural and economic impacts of listing this population under the Species at Risk Act.
Once the public consultation period is over, wraping up on July 15, Fisheries and Oceans Canada will then review the public’s response and put forward its own recommendation to Gail Shea, minister of fisheries and oceans, who in turn will forward her recommendation to the minister of the environment.
“Our recommendation is it should be listed as threaten and then the federal minister has the prerogative to either accept that or reject it,” said Post.
“It’s up to the general public to make a decision whether the minister does the appropriate thing with the recommendation from this independent, scientific body because to be frank they often don’t.”
If Bull trout is listed as “threatened” under the Species at Risk Act, the government will automatically have to create a recovery strategy and action plan to prevent the fishes’ disappearance.
Under the act, it would become illegal to kill, harm, harass, capture, possess or trade any part of the fish. It would also become illegal to destroy the critical habitat of the Saskatchewan-Nelson rivers population of Bull trout.
For species that are listed as “threatened” or “endangered”, the government must put together a recovery strategy, while species that are listed as “special concern”, the government must develop a management plan, explained Rodger.
Provincially the fish is listed as “threatened” and has been placed under a conservation management plan that expires in 2017.
“If the minister rejects the recommendation and doesn’t list [the fish] then there is no legal requirements either federally or provincially for anything to be done,” said Post.
Divided into five “designated units” or five different geographic populations, there are actually two different groups of Bull trout in Alberta, the Saskatchewan-Nelson river population and the Western Arctic population.
“The Western Arctic designated unit is assessed by COSEWIC as ‘special concern,’ which requires the development of a management plan, but no prohibitions under the Species at Risk Act,” said Rodger.
In Jasper, Bull trout that are found in the Athabasca River would be considered part of the Western Arctic population, whereas Bull trout found in a river or stream that flows into the Saskatchewan River would be considered part of the Saskatchewan-Nelson rivers population.
“Jasper is in a very unique position in having both designated units,” said Rodger, “There would be different protection in the north part of the park versus the south.”
Provincially, the government treats Bull trout as one population, rather than splitting them into two separate populations.
Up until the mid-90s, Bull trout were often misidentified, according to Rodger.
Belonging to the salmon and trout family, it is part of the char subgroup that includes Dolly Varden, Lake trout, Brook trout and Arctic char.
“It’s kind of like the Great White Shark of the trout family, in that it’s a very slow growing, slow to mature species and very misunderstood at one point in time, but very iconic for Alberta,” said Rodger.
Bull trout have a long slender body, a large broad head and prominent upper jaw with a slightly forked tail fin.
Its back is a blend of olive-green and blue-grey with small pink, yellow-orange or red spots on its side. Its belly is pale in colour and may become yellow, orange or red in males during spawning.
Sexual maturity occurs between five and seven years of age, with spawning occuring in the fall when water temperatures fall below 10 °C.
To participate in the public consolations, visit www.saaregistry.gc.ca under “get involved.”
Paul Clarke
[email protected]
