Alberta Westslope Cutthroat Trout Recovery Plan 2012 – 2017
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Alberta Westslope Cutthroat Trout Recovery Plan 2012 – 2017 Alberta Species at Risk Recovery Plan No. 28 Alberta Westslope Cutthroat Trout Recovery Plan 2012 – 2017 Prepared by: The Alberta Westslope Cutthroat Trout Recovery Team Tracey Cove, Operations Lead, Southern Rockies Area, Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development (AESRD) Jennifer Earle (Co-chair), Fisheries Biologist, AESRD Lorne Fitch, P. Biol., Environmental NGO Coalition Matt Holder, Manager, Environment, TransAlta Corporation Shelley Humphries, Aquatics Specialist, Banff, Yoho and Kootenay, Parks Canada Ed Kulcsar, Forestry Manager, Spray Lake Sawmills Brian Meagher, Alberta Biologist, Trout Unlimited Canada Charlie Pacas, Aquatics Specialist, Banff National Park, Parks Canada Melanie Percy, Senior Park Ecologist, Kananaskis Region, Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation Shane Petry (Co-chair), Species at Risk Biologist, Fisheries and Oceans Canada Sean Rogers, Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary Rob Staniland, Consultant, Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers Daryl Wig, Senior Fisheries Biologist, AESRD Linda Winkel (Secretariat), Fisheries Biologist, AESRD March 2013 Publication No: I/604 ISBN No. 978-1-4601-0231-2 (On-line Edition) ISSN: 1702-4900 (On-line Edition) Cover photos: J. Earle – Evan-Thomas Creek (top left); M. Coombs – Star Creek (top right); S. Petry (bottom). For copies of this report visit the Alberta Species at Risk Program web site: http://www.srd.gov.ab.ca/fishwildlife/speciesatrisk/default.aspx Or contact: Information Centre – Publications Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development Main Floor, Great West Life Building 9920 – 108 Street Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T5K 2M4 Telephone: (780) 944-0313 or 1-877-944-0313 This publication may be cited as: The Alberta Westslope Cutthroat Trout Recovery Team. 2013. Alberta Westslope Cutthroat Trout Recovery Plan: 2012-2017. Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development, Alberta Species at Risk Recovery Plan No. 28. Edmonton, AB. 77 pp. ii PREFACE Albertans are fortunate to share their province with a variety of wild species. Most plant and animal populations are healthy and secure. A small number, however, are either naturally rare or imperiled because of human activities. Recovery plans establish a basis for cooperation among government, industry, conservation groups, landowners and other stakeholders to ensure these species and populations are restored or maintained for future generations. Alberta’s commitment to the Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk and to the National Framework for the Conservation of Species at Risk, combined with requirements established under Alberta’s Wildlife Act and the federal Species at Risk Act, has resulted in the development of a provincial recovery program. The overall goal of the recovery program is to restore species identified as Threatened or Endangered to viable, naturally self-sustaining populations within Alberta. The policy document Alberta’s Strategy for the Management of Species at Risk (2009- 2014) provides a broader program context for recovery activities. Alberta species at risk recovery plans are prepared under the supervision of the Species at Risk Program, Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development. Recovery plans are prepared by recovery teams composed of a variety of stakeholders including conservation organizations, First Nations, industry, landowners, resource users, universities, government agencies and others. Membership is by invitation from the Director of Wildlife Management, and includes representation from a diversity of interests unique to each species and circumstance. Conservation and management of these species is ongoing during preparation of the recovery plan. Recovery plans are provided by the recovery team as advice to the Minister responsible for fish and wildlife management (the Minister) and to all Albertans. Alberta’s Endangered Species Conservation Committee reviews draft recovery plans and provides recommendations to the Minister. In addition, an opportunity for review by the public is provided. Plans accepted and approved for implementation by the Minister are published as a government recovery plan. Such approved plans are a summary of the Department’s commitment to work with involved stakeholders to coordinate and implement the conservation actions necessary to restore or maintain Threatened and Endangered species. Recovery plans include three main sections: background information which highlights the species’ biology, population trends, and threats; a recovery section that outlines goals, objectives, and strategies to address threats; and an action plan that delineates prioritized actions required to maintain or restore the Threatened or Endangered species. These plans are “living” documents that are revised as conditions change or circumstances warrant. Each approved recovery plan undergoes an annual review by which progress of implementation is evaluated. Implementation of each recovery plan is subject to the availability of resources from both within and outside government. iii Caring for Cutthroat Lorne Fitch, P. Biol. Westslope cutthroat trout now exist on the edges, fringes and margins of their former range. Populations are disconnected from one another and are small enough some are at significant risk of winking out of existence. A combination of things has led to this state: changes in habitat caused by various developments; stocking of non-native trout species, some of which hybridize with cutthroat trout, others that compete with them for space and resources; and, the additive feature of multiple, synergistic cumulative effects. Most of these impacts on cutthroat trout continue to influence the status of the Alberta population, plus climate change is an added concern. Although cutthroat trout survived and thrived for about 10,000 years the recent, rapid pace of change in as short a period as a human life span has been beyond their ability to cope and evolve. A recovery strategy is a life boat of sorts, in the face of these perils. It is a mechanism to delay the negative trajectory of the population and, over time, allow a modest recovery so the species is not so imperiled and in danger of disappearing from Alberta watersheds. Why would we, why should we care about cutthroat trout? Partly because governments, at various levels have committed and are mandated to ensure species do not slip through our fingers, between the cracks and sink beneath our collective consciousness. So legally we have to care. Morally, to allow a species like cutthroat trout to disappear through apathy, ignorance, inaction or greed would be a blot on our record as stewards of shared resources. These resources have been entrusted to our care, not for our exclusive use and disposal but to pass on, unimpaired, for subsequent generations. Functionally, protecting and restoring cutthroat populations transcends the fish. Cutthroat trout are a part, a feature of a watershed and an indicator of landscape health. The clarity of the medium cutthroat swim in should jog our sensibilities and remind us of the source of our drinking water. Having cutthroat occupy these watersheds is the gold seal of water quality. The ripples that extend outward from a pebble dropped in a stream containing cutthroat inevitably find us. All of us, governments, industry, academia, conservationists and the public have a duty to ensure cutthroat trout are allowed to survive and recover. The debate isn’t about whether they should be saved but rather how to save them and how quickly we need to act. Two essentials for these fish are place and space - cutthroats and their habitats are intertwined, interconnected and incapable of being separated. If we can protect some places and spaces for the cutthroat and allow recovery of populations to more robust levels, the intended effects will benefit other species. It may well be that our own iv species will need these healthy watersheds with natural expressions of biodiversity and ecosystem services. It truly needs them now! Touching, seeing or knowing a wild cutthroat trout exists exposes and sensitizes us directly and immediately to the very elements from which we evolved - earth, water, air and other living kin, large and small. A cutthroat trout can help us remember our place in the fabric that connects us and upon which our lives are mysteriously and inextricably linked. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................viii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................................................................................... ix 1.0 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Provincial and National Status.............................................................................................. 1 1.2 Recovery Team ..................................................................................................................... 1 2.0 SPECIES BIOLOGY.............................................................................................................. 2 2.1 Species Description............................................................................................................... 2 2.2 Genetic Description .............................................................................................................