The Dolberg Lake Saga Continues

Editor’s Note: In addition to the stories that ran last week and this article, the Barrhead Leader will be publishing a story regarding the decision to implement a bait ban at Dolberg Lake, as told to us from a representative of the Barrhead Fish & Game Association in our next issue.

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Effective April 1, there is a bait ban to promote fish growth and survival and a restriction of one fish over 50 cm at Dolberg Lake, says County of Barrhead manager Debbie Oyarzun.

Oyarzun made her comments to council during its meeting April 3 as part of her county manager’s report and noted that in her opinion, the decision on the new regulations was made in a very short amount of time. Last week, the Barrhead Leader ran two stories regarding the issue and will continue to report on the situation as it develops.

The new regulations, based on a survey of the Barrhead Fish & Game Association and members of the Edmonton-based Northern Lights Fly-Fishing Club, which became effective April 1 are aimed at improving the quality of fishing for everyone. In addition, Oyarzun said the introduction of brown trout into the lake is aimed at increasing the diversity of fish — rainbow trout are already present, and there is a potential to stock tiger trout as well at a future date, although this is not yet in the regulations.

Council voted unanimously on a motion from Coun. Lane to direct administration to invite a delegation from the Barrhead Fish & Game Association to attend the council meeting April 17, in an effort to gain some understanding.

“Councillor [Bill] Lane brought this issue to my attention. As I understand it, several of our county councillors were attending a social event hosted by Woodlands County councillors and had heard rumors that there would be some changes to fishing regulations out at Dolberg Lake, a lake which falls under the jurisdiction of the County of Barrhead,” Oyarzun said, noting that while the proposed regulatory changes did not raise any alarm bells, she made some inquiries and reached out to both the Barrhead Fish & Game Association and Alberta Environment (AEP) and Parks.

According to Oyarzun, on Nov. 24 of 2017, a senior biologist with Alberta Environment and Parks contacted the county to discuss the concept of improving the quality of fishing at Dolberg Lake, as well as potential trade-offs of regulation changes and impacts to the county.

“I responded via e-mail on Nov. 28 advising that for the time being, I would be the point of contact, and was informed that a meeting on the evening of the 29th between this individual and the Barrhead Fish & Game Association was to take place, specifically to survey the group on their preferences.

“At that point, that was all I heard. Nothing else that I was aware of had happened. At least until, as I mentioned, Coun. Lane came and brought to my attention what is currently occurring.”

Oyarzun said she e-mailed Alberta Environment and Parks to inquire as to whether any public consultation had been done.

“I reiterated each of the concerns we have heard and was told that they [AEP] approached Barrhead Fish & Game and I was given the impression that it had been a unanimous decision on the part of the association. However, in speaking to the association’s president, Joe Prochiuk, he intimated that it was more a 50-50 split,” she said.

In addition, Oyarzun said that at the request of the Barrhead Fish & Game Association, the survey that the AEP fisheries officer brought to his meeting with them was left at Kodiak Lake Hunting & Fishing Store in Barrhead.

“The biologist also did a presentation and surveyed the Northern Lights Fly-Fishing Club out of Edmonton and left surveys at the group’s fishing hole near Edmonton.

“It appears, to me, that all of this was done in very short order. I got an e-mail from them (AEP) on March 27 with the regulations being published. Their indication was that the greatest consensus of the survey was to use minimum size limits to change the fisheries management objectives.”

Oyarzun noted that at the last Rural Municipalities Association (RMA) convention, there was a resolution on the table that spoke to the provincial government needing to respect — the word and phrase are in the resolution — the elected officials, to engage and consult with elected officials in municipalities.

“This seems to me to be part of something bigger going on. Honestly, I was contacted briefly in November and that’s all I heard about this until the regulations were published,” she said.

Many councillors, notably Coun. Darrell Troock and Coun. Lane were upset that no public consultation had occurred.

“Nothing moves that fast in government. My question is, which one of those government guys belongs to that fly-fishing group. I’m concerned with the introduction of new species because we have seen elsewhere that when this is done, when groups like this get involved and introduce new fish to lakes already populated with their own species, nothing survives,” Troock said.

Lane agreed.

“What bothers me is that nobody on this council, nor our administration were informed beforehand,” he said.

And reeve Doug Drozd said it was important to have a delegation come before council to explain the process.

“We need to gain an understanding of why this took place. Maybe people were, in fact, in support of this, but we don’t know and we need to find out.”