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For decades bull trout would be removed from a fishing line and left to rot in the sun.
Alberta anglers considered the once-abundant fish as unwanted predators, feeding on more favoured trout species such as brook trout and brown trout.
"At the time, they saw the bull trout as a predator on the species they were more interested in fishing," said John Post, a biologist at the University of Calgary.
"They would catch them and throw them up on the bank," Post said in an interview with CBC Radio's Edmonton AM.
"They saw them as a pest." |
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Populations have never recovered from overharvesting in spite of nearly two decades of protection, he said.
The bull trout, Alberta's official fish, is in trouble, Post said. And if the bull trout is in trouble, other species will soon follow suit.
'A top predator'
"The bull trout is a top predator," Post said "It's a grizzly bear-like animal, but of streams and rivers.
"They're an important part of the structure of aquatic food webs in streams and rivers. And if they're not doing well in these systems it's an indicator of the poor health of our streams and rivers."
The bull trout — technically a large char species — has been listed for years as threatened under Alberta's Wildlife Act.
This August, the federal government classified the bull trout as threatened under Canada's Species At Risk Act. |
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