Alberta Forestry and Park has notified the Otipemisiwak Métis Government of potential changes to the sport fishing regulations in the province. The proposed changes involve increasing the number of fish that may be taken from each of the sixty-five affected waterbodies. If the new regulations are implemented, the fish limit for either Northern Pike and/or Walleye would increase from 0 fish to 1 fish per day, per person at each specified lake.
The fish populations affected by the potential regulation changes are generally rated low on the Fish Sustainability Index (FSI) produced by Alberta Fish and Wildlife, with most of the fish populations affected by the proposed regulations having an index of 2. The FSI consists of a measurement from 1-5 determined by the province that indicates how sustainable fish species populations in that lake are, where 1 is very high risk and 5 is very low risk. While the majority (fifty-four) of affected lake fish populations have an FSI rating of 2, four affected lake fish populations have a FSI rating of 1, and only seventeen of the sixty-five lake fish populations are rated a 3 or above. For more information on the water bodies affected by the change to these regulations please see the list below.
This survey is intended to collect feedback, comments, questions, and concerns from Métis Citizens within Alberta to better inform our response and position in relation to the Government of Alberta's proposed changes to sport fishing regulations.