Bow River Trout Populations May Be In Decline

[toolman]

Well the whole point of fishteck starting this topic is the concern over the lack of data from AEP.

Historically, anecdotal evidence from a wide audience actually motivates governments to take action to investigate expressed concerns. Otherwise nothing happens and actions from government becomes a reaction to crisis.  Like Whirling disease. It's a familiar cycle.

Just ask the fisherman from Newfoundland, who, for decades, told the Federal fisheries managers in Ottawa that cod stocks were in peril. The feds ignored them and sold the local fishery out to foreign fleets, who collapsed the fishery.

So you can do nothing or speak up. Kudos too fishteck and others for publicly voicing their concerns,  even if we have our differences in opinions as to what some of the significant stressors may be.           

[toolman]

 .

The Bow has over 800 man made tributaries? Yes, it does and they have names like B51....

Of course I am referring to the 800+ Storm drain Outfalls, that spew untreated storm drain water directly into the Bow, from rainfall that is collected by 60,000 storm drain catch basins, across the City of Calgary.

Tubifex worms. Ever heard of them? They are the host for Whirling disease parasites. Tubifex worms are also called "sewage worms" or "sludge worms" They  can  be found at Storm drain Outfall pools through the city.    

Fun facts eh.

[threepwood]

Tubifex worms are endemic to pretty much every body of fresh water in North America. Not sure what you're going on about.

[toolman]

Sure, but we have artificially created hundreds of habitats for them to thrive. Simple logic would conclude it significantly increases the number of potential hosts for whirling disease parasites and increases the possibility of a Whirling disease outbreak on the Bow. Storm drain Outfalls are also a major source of organic pollutants.                

[rudedawg]

"Of course I am referring to the 800+ Storm drain Outfalls, that spew untreated storm drain water directly into the Bow, from rainfall that is collected by 60,000 storm drain catch basins in the City of Calgary."

This is one area where we can see improvements in how the City is managing a water quality issue: engineered wetlands. From small pocket wetlands that now are engineered into every major road interchange, to multi-hectare regional catchments like the new one just being completed at Bowmont Park, a significant portion of the stormwater is being bio-remediated. Still a long ways to go (and maybe we are "engineering" lots of carp habitat that connects into the river), but it's nice to see some of my tax dollars going towards cleaning up some of the crap my lifestyle creates.

[1961flyman]

My take on the Press Release is that any publicity is Good !

We can`t expect to not see numbers of Trout declining..

In the last 20 years the number of anglers has grown a huge amount..

Guess would be 100% to 200% more . Poor Release techniques don`t help.

Environmental concerns and changes take more Fish. Whirling Disease has been here for decades in my opinion.

I myself no longer take pictures of fish, rarely for Friends, unless it is a monster.

BTW  If you haven`t witnessed the raw predation of the Pelicans, you were too busy looking at your rod tip or whatever.

The Bow is doing a great job !!

 

[fishteck]

I was told yesterday that I always try to get the last word on a post I put together. But this one has generated a lot of valuable comment. Not everyone will agree with what others say and believe are the current reasons for the trout population declines. Bow River Trout  Foundation has identified a number of issues that are felt to contribute to the decline and will attempt to get fishery management support to either take actions where they can to make improvements to the fishery, or support initiatives and research that will give a clearer understanding of what is going on. Although there is limited scientific evidence to support a number of our opinions, there is sufficient logic to move on a number of initiatives. Here are our current focal points:

• Improvement in the management of flow discharge from upstream water storage reservoirs. We are seeing far to much of an increase or decrease in flows over a very short period of time. Up to 120 cms in less than 12 hours  in flow has been recorded on a routine basis this spring. Our concerns have been expressed to TransAlta and AEP who have said they will get back to me by the end of July. Do not expect a quick change on TransAlta's part, but some modification to the operational procedures are possible in the future.
• The reduction in phosphate load of the water treatment plants and the impact on invertebrate species and concentration is unclear. But what data has been collected suggests that the highly variable river flows will eliminate or reduce some species. There is some support to document the changes in more detail and hopefully make some water management changes.
• A public awareness plan has been started with  a series of articles being released on the "State of the Bow river Fishery" the first being this article on the decline of the rainbow trout population. Others will follow as and when we compile the reference material. Government agencies do respond to this type of reporting procedure.

Equally important are the comments that have come out of this post. Pelicans, cormorants, C&R, angler pressure,  seasonal closures, disease threats all play their part as do self regulating your own activity and frequency of fishing on a vulnerable resource. If the trout population does continue to decline, predators, will leave, as will the anglers. This may be one change that will play a role in the survival of the trout population. Thanks for all the comments.

 

[trailhead]

I like this thread because it has really opened up the conversation on this topic, which is I believe to be a template of ecological impact on the world as a whole. The supposition is that there are a variety of impacts causing a decrease in fish populations on the Bow, flow rates, sewage discharge, predator impact, entomological factors, fertility environments, etc. The one factor that seems to be missing is the 8 billion one. I mean people, just the number of people in our whole sample system. Fish are not stupid, I mean how many of you have seen a perfect presentation and the fish you were targeting come up, take a look, just to turn and go back to it's lie. I had that happen to me on the Bow back in the early nineties, "hopping down the Bow" with a monster brown. Now I had caught over a dozen fish by this point all over 15 inches. But I then ran into a group of fishers that had worked the water in front of me, all who had a great day. So what I am saying is that the pure number of people fishing the river Is causing an impact in that the fish see so many artificials that unless you happen to be really in the right place at the right time they are just too educated to be fooled. As for fish populations "probably" is probably not right not matter which way you look at it as your mind is already probably made up.

[fishteck]

The current high flow conditions are just like a seasonal closure that will assist the balance of fishing pressure and the desire to fish. If a post spawn closure was in place this year as historical was in the '80, we would not see any dry fly fishing until problem the end of next week. Is this a good solution to the overfishing concerns.

Another option is single hook or dry fly only fishing regulations. Any one want to take up the subject?

 

[troutlover]

We are way behind on the studies and the scientific research so we will skip that and go forward with theory and observation....... The intent has merit but the approach is flawed. When you take this approach you can very often waste time and resources chasing a theory validated by good intentions while the real problem unseen and misunderstood continues on. We see this approach and failure far to often in the management of the environment. It gives Government and Business the opportunity to say  they are doing their part while at the same time they are doing nothing. Facts and science is what will focus the resource management in the direction they need to go. Though properly conducted scientific studies are the slower approach in the long term it is what will bring the best results. I think foundations that are raising funds to make real change should focus more of their money towards research that will help us understand how to spend funds on action that will make the largest impact. Its about finding the best balance between long term results and short therm solutions. If the government wont spend the money for the studies that will hold them accountable, then i think it is up to the foundations that petition for donations and public funding to take up the responsibility. I'm not saying the Bow River Foundation is going the wrong direction by any means. I am grateful for their time, effort and stewardship. They have made already drastic improvements to the Bow river and i know they will continue to do so and for that reason i will continue to send $$ their way, My thoughts are just something i share so that they can be considered. I think there needs to be more balance brought to the process that will bring longer term results. We need the government to shift their way of thinking by providing consistent scientific observation and facts. It is the only thing that can keep them accountable, the only way we can know if our efforts are having an impact and the only way we can have consistent results that don't change with every 4 year election.  

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[reevesr1]

On 2018-06-25 at 6:41 AM, monger said:

I will tell the 20" rainbow I watched a pelican eat last week that it shouldn't worry...pelicans don't eat game fish....ya right

I wonder why you see all the pelicans that are hunting right in the spots where there is good dry fly fishing....maybe they know where the trout are in the shallows.

Historically the pelicans are lake dwellers, but the Bow river pelicans are not following the text books. They can eat huge fish well over 5lb. No trout in the Bow is safe

I have been around a LOT of pelicans in my life. Caught one on a topwater once, they fight pretty good. They were everywhere where I'm from . I cannot speak at all about what they do on the Bow, but in the gulf we used them as fish finders-not because they ate the fish we wanted because they were reliable bait finders. I have never seen one eat a game fish, though I'm sure they do. Here however, since there are not huge schools of baitfish around, I can only imagine they would eat game fish if they can get them. And they sure do seem to hang out in tasty runs.

 

[fishteck]

Troutlover's comments are  correct in so far as scientific research should guide the direction of any substantial shift in fishery management policy. But unfortunately the commitment to undertake longer-term  population dynamic research under the many variables that exist in the field is costly, time consuming  and has little glitter from the researcher or fundraising perspective. Government funding was historically available for this type of research in the past. But little is available nowadays. BRT has looked at supporting this type of research through grant applications and donations, but usually there is a fixed term application for the funding to be used. The end result is that most often a review of historical research is followed by a relatively short-term study or survey to support a preconceived outcome.

For example, there is a belief within the fishing community that the current Bow River Water Management Model of highly variable releases of water from the dams upstream of Calgary is responsible for depletion in invertebrate population downstream of Calgary. This coupled with less phosphate release from water treatment plants has reduced the fish feed in the middle to lower Bow River. A review of survey data from 2005 and data collected in 2011 that has not been fully analysed, suggests that there are differences in invertebrate populations across the  basin but the variables of water flow did not allow any conclusions to be found that there was a significant shift in invertebrate populations. So what should we do? Support more research to possibly have a scientifically validated answer to our concerns in 10 to 12 years. Or move forward with pressing for changes in water management policy on the basis of perceived logic. 

My belief is that there are no definitive answers to this question when there is a need to show improvements  in the fish population with 3 to 5 years. Nevertheless Bow River Trout Foundation will attempt to bridge to gap and get the most recent information out to the public to allow for a more informed understanding of "The State of the Bow River Fishery".

 

[scel]

1 hour ago, reevesr1 said:

I have been around a LOT of pelicans in my life. Caught one on a topwater once, they fight pretty good. They were everywhere where I'm from . I cannot speak at all about what they do on the Bow, but in the gulf we used them as fish finders-not because they ate the fish we wanted because they were reliable bait finders. I have never seen one eat a game fish, though I'm sure they do. Here however, since there are not huge schools of baitfish around, I can only imagine they would eat game fish if they can get them. And they sure do seem to hang out in tasty runs.

 

Good story...

In the previous 3 years (but not this year) there was a single male pelican that would fly up to around the 22X bridge and float down to around Christmas Tree Island, before flying back up to 22X area to float again.  He would come by 5 or 6 times in a single evening.  He was impressive---big and 'clean' (if that makes any sense, looking more like a bird and less like their dinosaur lineage)

I watched him float by one evening.  Chasing the pelican, a wildlife photographer scrambled by me.  He wanted a picture of this bird.  I told him to just wait.  The bird floats within a couple metres of shore usually through a couple of key runs and that he was only on his first float---he will be back.  The photog did not take my advice and hauled his tripod and spotting scope hurriedly down the riverbank.  Sure enough, the pelican did his follow up drift about 40 minutes later, stopping in the run in front of me, less than 2m away, to scoop up a big brown trout, and a couple little unidentified fish and then immediately flew away.

The photog came back upstream.  I told him that the pelican came back and drifted very close to shore.  The photog said that he knew and that he saw the pelican stop in front of me and catch a couple fish, and that he also said that he saw my 'i told you so' grin.

On Friday, I saw a flock/herd/gang/murder of pelicans try to bully a group of Canada geese, clearly trying to eat the goslings. While the pelicans are bigger, few birds are bigger potential a$$holes than Canada geese but when protecting their young, they go super saiyan.  The pelicans eventually gave up.  I have seen them eat ducklings before though.

[monger]

Cool story scel. These river pelicans are just making adjustments to a new lifestyle that is different from "lake life". They are clever and very flexible when it comes to food sources. The pelicans are only one piece of the puzzle....but when there are hundreds of the big buggers, they are not something that should be ignored. I have been seeing more pelicans feeding mid-day this year which leads me to think that evening fishing has not been productive enough for them. High, dirty water and perhaps less fish may be effecting them as well. Considering pelican populations province-wide are below historical levels, there is really not much that can/will be done about them on the Bow

[Dangus]