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A complicated issue. Life is chaotic and often not fully understood, including our impacts. Even our attempts to improve things run into the law of unintended consequences. Consensus is that fish stocks on the Bow have plummeted. But is there a single answer or is it the result of cumulative effects? I would think it's the latter. Too much pressure? Maybe a multi-year closure along with extensive monitoring to determine how much that is as an impact? I'd be surprised if that didn't show at least some increase in numbers. Very few people will support that anyway. Unfortunately, poachers might become even more emboldened by having fewer eyes on the river in the form of lawful fisherpersons. As part of that, if you provided more access points you will reduce the pressure on the current localities but potentially create the unintended consequence that even more people would be out, eventually extending the heavily pressured areas even more. Anybody have a sound number on how many rod days there are on the Bow? Supplement with hatchery fish? May work as an ongoing project but if numbers are in fact dropping, shortly after you stop stocking history will repeat itself. At what point would the Blue Ribbon Bow become a miles long stocked fishery and not a source of truly wild fish. Thinking on it, who cares? A fish is a fish. Aquatic targets. How old does a Rainbow have to be to be considered a reliable spawner? If it's not going to survive in the wild that long, good money after bad in the ongoing project. Seasonal, local and size limits, in my mind, are reactions to the problems we either can't identify or control. But they will help. If part of the problem is Whirling Disease (and/or similar), I understand that ensuing natural generations become more resistant. The reason Browns are affected by it nowhere near as much as RB, it's been around in Europe for a loooong time. Would seem to be at least partially confirmed by the findings in Colorado. Should the province get into capturing RB from the Bow to try and "breed out" the effect of WD? Can't see that happening. Habitat degradation and/or destruction? Good luck getting the money spent by individuals or government to reverse or even do much to effect meaningful remediation. You can achieve some feel good successes but I would think not enough to return things to the glory days. One and a quarter million people within the city of Calgary plus the outlying population centers and individuals living close enough to the Bow or it's tribs to have a negative effect. Introduction of invasive species? It has, is and will continue to happen. Much that could be done to minimize it, IF everybody did what was req'ed. The bloody white man is the original invasive species to the province. Followed by others. And they all either didn't know what the effect of what they were doing would be, or didn't care. Not as long a post as I could have made, tired of typing already. My thoughts and two cents.

The other decline is food base. Invertbrates such as Stone Flies, Mayflies and Caddis numbers have dropped. We are no longer seeing the super hatches as in past years. You flip stones and notice the decline.