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Seriously, you think that the increase in C&R angling is the leading cause of trout population declines on the Bow over the past 15 years? It has some impact but studies have shown the effects are negligible. As for enforcement on the Bow, it has increased significantly since 2006. F&W told me back then that they only received 4 calls to RAP to report illegal fishing activities on the Bow, for all of 2005. Evidence based science is the foundation on which good management strategies are created. The Bow isn't the only river that has experienced a 50℅ loss of Rainbow population over this time period. Several other major trout rivers in the US mid west have experienced the same decline. I feel that many of the issues that have had a very negative impact on the Bow fishery have long been identified. Doing more fish counts may not lead to any new information. The problem is the political will to make the necessary changes. Lobbying efforts have fallen short thus far. When flows get dangerously low, the City of Calgary won't even place a water advisory or enact water restrictions. Instead AEP closes the river to fishing. For the past five years the City of Calgary pays Trans Alta to draw down the reservoir levels 20,' at the Ghost Reservoir, as a flood mitigation strategy. This increase in flow can extend natural run off period by up to a month. The increasd flow and subsequent turbidity, reduces sunlight penetration to the stream bed where the basis of the food chain starts. Aquatic mosses, plants, invertebrates and all marine life is negatively affected. This is followed by water hoarding in August to fill the reservoir back up to generate power. I could go on and on... Lorne Fitch has been sounding the alarm about many of these types of issues for a long time

Extended Body Mayfly, foam Carnage style.

Would be nice to see an application of the precautionary principle a bit here, while we are catching up on data shortages. We also need to get a feeling of angler effort and potential impact..

The real problem with this subject is that most of the research, and citizen science has been limited in scope. There is a need to address the concerns of depleted fish populations on a Bow River Basin wide basis. The changes that have taken place in the trout population over the past 5 years do not appear to be consistent with normal events. Each of the five years we have seen dramatic changes. Larger fish one year, lack of a size class another and changes in conditions from highs to lows. The Bow River has been neglected by our fishery managers for many years due mostly to the focus on the endangered and vulnerable fish management policies and the presence of Whirling Disease. There is now a recognition that more resources need to be directed to the Bow River sports fishery. Before any change or improvement can be made to the fishery there is need for a baseline index to monitor shifts or improvements to the management of the resource. Fish population surveys would seem to be that index. There are many different opinions as to why we have seen the declines in trout population over the past 15 - 20 years. River flow management policy, closures, water quality, habitat, fish feed and regulatory enforcement are just a few of the many possibilities. What is important at this point in time is for the fishing community and stakeholder groups to consider what can be done to improve the fishery. Hopefully the provincial government will engage the fishing community in the decision making process. If not others will do so.