Native Trout Recovery Requires Cooperation

Native Trout Recovery Requires Cooperation from Multiple Government Departments.

Recently, TUC outlined our position on Alberta’s North Central Native Trout recovery program and sent a letter to Honourable Shannon Phillips, Minister of Environment and Parks, expressing TUC’s support for the Department’s efforts towards native trout recovery.

However, native trout recovery is no simple task. Populations of Westslope Cutthroat Trout, Bull Trout, Athabasca Rainbow Trout, and Arctic Grayling have declined in range and population over many years due to a variety of threats including habitat fragmentation, water quality and habitat degradation, impacts from non-native species, and fishing mortality. No one factor is solely to blame for these declines, but rather the cumulative effects of multiple impacts.

While Alberta Environment and Parks play a key role in the recovery of native trout populations, they cannot do it alone. The protection of our shared fisheries resources demands action across ministries, including Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, Alberta Transportation, Alberta Energy, and Alberta Justice and Solicitor General. As such, TUC recently sent letters to the ministers of these Departments, calling for action on native trout recovery. These letters can be found below:

Transportation

Agriculture & Forestry

Solicitor-General

Energy