Vampires in the Basement: Lessons about species-at-risk, exotic invasions, and ecological restoration from the wise fishes of Jasper and Willmore

Dr. Michael Sullivan, Cooperative Conservation Research Unit What have our travels in the mountains taught us?

1) Ecosystems are complex 2) “Species-at-Risk” usually mean “Systems-at-Risk” 3) Ecosystem changes may be irreversible

Learn to appreciate change

Chaba River area, JNP March 2007 Vampires in the Basement Creatures that are around, but quite rare …until some evil thing occurs upstairs, and the vampires come out of the basement, and life as we know it is changed forever

Hardscrabble Creek Azure Lake

Whitetail deer “Vampires” and “Invasives” becoming important in our understanding of Nature Whitetails are the “Vampires in the Basement” for JNP and Willmore caribou

Tonquin Valley area, Summer 2007 Mark Bradley photo Queen Elizabeth Range, JNP Feb 2009 Rock Lake area (Hinton) Nov 2008 Clearcuts (or burns) alter habitat (old-growth becomes young) Young forest = increased “invasive” deer, that increase wolves Wolves enjoy deer, but love caribou Caribou decline

Starlight Range, JNP July 2008 Clearcuts Grande Cache (1000’s of ’em) Clearcuts (1000’s of ’em)

Caribou range (A La Peche Herd)

Hinton

50 km (30 miles)

JNP (1/2 day wolf travel)

Jasper Heraclitus (575 BC): You cannot step in the same river twice

If the ecosystem has changed, can we restore a single species?

Mowitch Creek, JNP July 2008 The decline of a charismatic species is usually (always?) symptomatic of a complex ecosystem shift, often invisible, often irreversible

Starlight Range, JNP July 2008 Millions of people 0.5 1.5 2.5 3.5 0 1 2 3 4 1900

Human populationoftheCanadianprairieprovinces 1910 Manitoba Alberta

1920

Oil boomattractedpeople 1930

1940 1947

1950

Year

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010

Oil boom attracts people Oil boom attracts people Wolf Lake 2008 Alberta walleye are old… really old

50 cm walleye 1060 g = slow growth = low productivity = easily overharvested

29 year-old (born in 1978) Low Productivity meets Heavy Fishing Pressure

Success rate of anglers 80

Restricted access

Open access Primrose Lake 60 Air Weapons Range

Edmonton

40

Calgary

20 % Success (walleye kept)

0 COLD COLD WOLF WOLF HILDA HILDA ETHEL ETHEL AMISK AMISK MOOSE MOOSE MOORE MOORE MURIEL MURIEL GARNER GARNER SPENCER SPENCER KEHEWIN KEHEWIN BAPTISTE BAPTISTE SKELETON SKELETON PRIMROSE PRIMROSE GREGOIRE GREGOIRE STE. ANNE STE. ANNE PINEHURST PINEHURST IRONWOOD IRONWOOD FRENCHMAN FRENCHMAN NORTH BUCK BUCK NORTH TOUCHWOOD’84 TOUCHWOOD’84 TOUCHWOOD’89 TOUCHWOOD’89 FLOATINGSTONE FLOATINGSTONE Road-accessible Alberta lakes collapsed by 1990s Why not just stock more fish?

Walleye stocked in Alberta for > 80 years

116 lakes stocked on 364 different occasions

Stocking successful (self-sustaining) at 5 lakes 1 of these 5 was restoration Stocking walleye mostly unsuccessful in Alberta Why?

Abundant small fishes at collapsed walleye lakes

Few Walleye abundance Many (CUE) Loss of Cultivation Effects: Walleye and Shiners

Complex predator-prey interaction Depensatory loss of cultivation effect

Walleye adults eat minnows

Minnow adults eat walleye fry

Overfishing alters interaction

New ecosystem unsuitable for stocking Ecosystem changes: replacement of apex predators

1.6 800 12 large commercial fisheries

1.4 Walleye

1.2 600 Birds on breeding colonies 4 major breeding colonies 1.0 Cormorants (x 10) White Pelicans 0.8 400

0.6

0.4 200 Commercial harvest of walleye (kg/ha) Commercial 0.2

0 0 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 Year Quote of the Decade

One of the biggest mistakes in the development of fisheries science has been the broad assumption that this science is about fish. Walters and Martell (2004)

Replacement of apex predators, caused by “Vampires”

1.6 Walleye 800

1.4

1.2 600 Birds on breeding colonies Few walleye 4 major breeding colonies 1.0 Cormorants (x 10) Many perch White Pelicans 0.8 (=irruptive species) 400

0.6 Few grazing plankton

0.4 200 Commercial harvest of walleye (kg/ha) Commercial 0.2 12 large Alberta commercial fisheries 0 0 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980Green water1990 Year Vampires in the Basement

Talbot Lake, JNP

New Bird Community Loons unusually abundant 8 breeding pairs, 8 chicks fledged in 2002 340 ha lake

Original Fish Community Big Pike, , & spottail shiners (rare)

New Fish Community Heavy fishing pressure (1960s – 1990s) Whitefish very rare, large (>80cm) pike rare Spottails now very abundant Ecosystem changes: replacement of apex predators

Talbot Lake, JNP

Loons = Popular tourist attraction

Vergas, Minnesota 2008 Loon Princess and her posse 2008 Loon Queen and Loon Princess Ecosystem changes: replacement of apex predators

Peyto Viewpoint Talbot Lake, JNP

Talbot Lake is now notable destination for wildlife tours

More loons = more tours = $ and appreciation for nature

Restored lake = more big pike = fewer loons Will society benefit more from loons or pike? Vampires in the JNP Backcountry?

Across all Canadian National Parks, the most fishing licences were consistently issued in Jasper

Legacy of being the fishing national park has left very loud echos

Unnamed lake (with bull trout!) Upper Miette drainage August 2006

Fish Story from the Drainage

Upper Smoky system originally fishless

Headwater lake (Adolphus Lake)

Stocked in 1963, Brook trout (native to east coast, Appalachia)

August 2007 No fish in Adolphus No adult brookies for 40 km below Adolphus Chown Creek area, North Boundary Trail country Brookies trickle down from Upper Smoky to native Alberta bull trout water Brook trout outcompete and hybridize with native bull trout Hybrid fishes less adapted to natural environment = loss of bull trout

Brook Trout Alberta’s Official Provincial Fish

Bull Trout

Approx. 700 adult brook trout More than a few new fishes… More than a few exotic fishes…

Ecosystem shift Tough questions Should we restore Jasper’s fishless ecosystems?

Can we restore Jasper’s fishless ecosystems? Should we restore JNP’s fishless ecosystem? Does society want to eliminate fish-dependant birds, mammals? Triage: $$ not infinite; is this the best way to spend it? Pro: brookie removal protects bull trout in Willmore (downstream) Con: without brookie removal, we’ll recommend no fishing for bull trout in Willmore

No fishing = infringement of treaty rights

Aseniwuche Winewak (Rocky Mtn. Cree) Can we restore JNP’s fishless ecosystem?

Some wise folks say, “No” We might (and should!) restore lakes, maybe streams, but not ecosystems

Never underestimate our ability to overfish… We’re the folks who fished out the North Atlantic…

…overfishing damage extends far beyond cod Can we restore Jasper’s fishless ecosystems? Industrial-strength ecosystem disturbance (repeatedly, for years)

Massive poisoning & netting of lakes and streams - chemical side-effects, friendly fire People living and working in area for years - caribou , grizzlies disturbed - no longer a wilderness $$$ and effort that could go elsewhere Should we accept the (probably) inevitable changes of ecosystem shifts?

Should we learn to appreciate brookies and loons and wolves? Edward Abbey The Journey Home: Some Words in Defense of the American West. 1988. “One final paragraph of advice:

Do not burn yourselves out. Be like I am – a reluctant enthusiast…, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and Thank you adventure.

It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, explore the forests, encounter the grizz, climb the mountains, run the rivers.

Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much:

I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound people with their hearts in a safe deposit box and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators.

I promise you this: you will outlive the bastards.” Ed Abbey