Bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) COSEWIC assessment and status report 2012: chapter 11
Bull is listed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) as Threatened throughout its range in the contiguous United States under the Endangered Species Act. After listing certain populations of Bull Trout as Threatened, the USFWS added the remaining population segments within Bull Trout’s range in the United States in 1999 (USFWS 1999). This classification was maintained following a five-year review of the listing in 2004 (USFWS 2008).
The Canadian federal Fisheries Act delegates authority to the provinces and territories to establish and enforce fishing regulations. Under this Act, each jurisdiction within Bull Trout’s range has designated this species as a game or sportfish (DJC 1996, 1998, 2005, 2008). These regulations incorporate a variety of measures to protect fish stocks, including stream and lake closures, catch and release fisheries, size and catch limits, and gear restrictions. Alberta currently has the most conservative Bull Trout angling regulations, which includes a province-wide zero-bag-limit (Rodtka 2009). Sport harvesters in the Northwest Territories and Yukon are allowed to catch 2 Bull Trout per day; those in Northwest Territories can have three in their possession at any one time, while those in Yukon can have four (FOC/YE 2010; NTENR 2010). Increasingly conservative angling regulations in British Columbia vary across the province; the least restrictive region for daily catch quota (DCQ) is the Okanagan for lakes (DCQ = 6 but zero for streams), and the Skeena for streams (DCQ = 2 from streams, 3 total). The most conservative regulations in place are in the Lower mainland and Omineca, where there is a DCQ of 1 from lakes and 0 from streams (BCME 2010).
The Canadian federal Wildlife Act enables provincial and territorial authorities to license anglers and angling guides, and to supply scientific fish collection permits. Under this Act, Bull Trout is afforded some protection in Alberta and British Columbia. Alberta’s Endangered Species Conservation Committee (ESCC) has identified Bull Trout as a Species of Special Concern under its Wildlife Act since 2002 (Gutsell et al. 2008). This means that it is a species that may soon become threatened with extinction if there is no human intervention.
At the provincial level, growing concerns about Bull Trout’s declining populations in Alberta led to the establishment of the Bull Trout Task Force in 1993. This facilitated recovery efforts in subsequent years and helped the development of Alberta’s ‘Bull Trout Management and Recovery Plan’ (Berry 1994), which recognized Bull Trout as a species of Special Concern and was implemented in 1995 (Brewin 2004). A provincial status report was first published in 2002 (Post and Johnson 2002). This has been recently updated, with the status of various populations currently under review (Rodtka 2009). The management plan is currently being updated (Rodtka 2009). A number of recovery actions that have already been undertaken include (Christiansen pers. comm. 2010):
- A province-wide no-harvest regulation implemented in 1995 that will be enforced until such time as there is a harvestable surplus. This was also implemented by the National Parks (Brewin 2004).
- The elimination of bait use in waters containing Bull Trout since 1988 (with several highly restricted seasonal exceptions).
- The establishment of permanent, as well as some seasonal, angling closures in known key Bull Trout spawning areas.
- An extensive campaign undertaken since 1995 to educate anglers in fish identification to help reduce the chances of misidentification and accidental harvest of Bull Trout.
- A public education program about Bull Trout and their habitat requirements designed to encourage responsible decision-making where impacts on Bull Trout habitat could result.
- “Class A” designation of many of the most significant known Bull Trout spawning areas under the Alberta Water Act. This affords a high level of protection to these key areas, excluding almost all new road and pipeline crossings from within the area, and limiting the extent of disturbance that can occur in the riparian zone.
- Provincial Enforcement staff place a high priority on enforcement of the Bull Trout harvest closures throughout the species range since 1995, directed by enforcement advisories.
- Two assessment and remediation projects of stream crossings in NW Alberta, initiated by a consortium of groups including government, industry and regulators. Work aims to identify and correct crossings that may block fish movements or contribute to sedimentation.
- A review of all stocking programs within the Bull Trout range followed by their discontinuation or modification. Most Brook Trout and Brown Trout stocking within Bull Trout range has either stopped for more than 8 years or, in a few cases, been replaced by stocking of only sterile, triploid fish.
- A Brook Trout removal research project in Quirk Creek, southwestern Alberta, which has examined the use of angling to selectively remove Brook Trout from a mountain stream that harbours remnant populations of native Bull Trout and West Slope Cutthroat Trout.
Some similar actions have occurred in British Columbia. In 1995, the British Columbia Fisheries Program developed a ‘Strategic Plan for the Conservation and Management of Char in British Columbia’ (BCME 1994). Bull Trout was identified as a priority species in this plan. This reflected its provincial blue-listing as a species of Special Concern (i.e. are considered to be particularly vulnerable to human activities or natural events) in 1994 (BCCDC 2010), and recognized that the majority of intact Bull Trout populations in the species’ range occur in British Columbia (Pollard and Down 2001). This plan has since focused ongoing provincial inventory, assessment and research efforts towards a better understanding of the species’ general distribution, patterns of genetic diversity, seasonal movements, critical habitat and interspecific interactions (Pollard and Down 2001).
Bull Trout is afforded limited protection in British Columbia from the provincial Fish Protection Act, as well as being protected under BC’s Wildlife Act. The Fish Protection Act provides some legislative authority for water managers to consider impacts on fish and fish habitats before approving new water licenses or amendments to existing licenses, or issuing approvals for works in and about streams. Bull Trout is also one of four fish listed under the ‘Identified Wildlife Management Strategy’ of the ‘Forest and Range Practices Code of British Columbia’, which recommends special management attention for such species under the Forest and Range Practices Act.
Bull Trout is assessed as Vulnerable under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN 2010). Its Global Heritage Status rank is Apparently Secure (G4, NatureServe 2011). Bull Trout is ranked as Sensitive nationally (N3), in British Columbia the interior lineage is ranked as S3 and also S3 in Alberta and Yukon. It is ranked as May Be At Risk (S2) in the Northwest Territories. Populations in the USA are listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
Recent controversial changes to the Fisheries Act reduce the degree of protection of Bull Trout and their habitat, but it could be afforded some protection as a species of interest for recreational angling with economic implications. This species is also found within several National Parks (Jasper, Yoho, Kootenay, Banff,Glacier, Nahanni and Waterton Lakes National Parks), which are managed by Parks Canada and are regulated in accordance with the National Parks Act. Development is prohibited to varying degrees in the various other park systems and protected areas that exist throughout the Canadian range of Bull Trout (PDAC 2008).
All of the jurisdictions within Bull Trout’s Canadian range surpassed the target recommended in the 1988 Brundtland Report to reach 12% of the land base dedicated to protected areas (WCED 1987); current area protected ranges from about 13% in Alberta and Yukon, and nearly 14% in British Columbia, to approximately 22% in Northwest Territories (BCME 2007; PDAC 2008). The majority of land in Bull Trout’s Canadian range is Crown or public (BC ~ 94%; AB ~72%; NT; ~100%; YK 98%) with the minority being privately owned (PDAC 2008).
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