Alberta looks at angling closures if conditions don't improve

Alberta closed several popular fishing spots last August to protect fish populations after low precipitation and high temperatures led to extremely low water levels.

CBC News called it "an unusual step" at the time.

Paul Christensena senior fisheries biologist with Alberta Environment and Parksin an interview Thursday said it was more than unusual.

"It was the first time ever, I believe," Christensen said.

• Fishing areas closed by province as heat, low water threaten species

And if things don't improve this year, there is a chance that could happen again.

The province issued an advisory Thursday covering much of the southwest portion of the province.

"I think it is fair to say that if conditions persist as they have now, that we would be prepared to initiate angling closures as we have last year to safeguard our fish populationand to ensure that we have health fish stocks in the future," he explained.

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Christensen said we are in a similar situation this year with low levels of precipitation and a low snow pack.

"There is going to be a lot of people that are not going to have access to water that have historically," he said.

"When we start having back to back drought years, we want to make sure we have a lot of principal in the bank account so that if we are forced to draw on the principal for next year that we are able to do that in a responsible way and that may include angling closures."

To minimize risk to fish, anglers are encouraged to fish in stocked ponds and lakes, to fish early in the morning and to minimize handling time byreleasing fish quickly.

"Every angler has a responsibility to make decisions."

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