You’re In Native Trout / Arctic Grayling Country! By Lesley Peterson-Alberta Provincial Biologist
If you’ve driven around British Columbia you are likely familiar with the iconic stream crossing signs with yellow fish graphic signs identifying salmon habitat. This signage program has been undertaken by various community groups throughout the province with guidelines having been developed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). These signs help to promote awareness and create a new respect for a local resource that may have been forgotten, taken for granted, or perhaps never discovered.
Driving around Alberta, you may see familiar green signs with white text identifying the names of well-known creeks and rivers…sometimes. Often you may drive over a creek without realizing it exists, that it likely has a name, and perhaps provides critical habitat for some of Alberta’s iconic native trout and/or Arctic Grayling. Even some of Alberta’s large and famous rivers lack signage, meaning that many (especially non-anglers) will never know what river it is they are driving over.
TUC, working with our partners in the provincial Native Trout Collaborative has recently piloted a similar stream signage program aimed at raising awareness of native trout and grayling habitat in Alberta. Funding has been provided from the Alberta Conservation Association and through the provincial Native Trout Collaborative, funded by DFO through the Canada Nature Fund for Aquatic Species at Risk. Two designs were developed: one with a trout silhouette that says “you’re in native trout country!” and one with a grayling silhouette that says “Arctic Grayling Habitat”. Both signs also name the stream. Thus far, we have been targeting locations providing habitat for Bull Trout, Westslope Cutthroat Trout, Athabasca Rainbow Trout, and/or Arctic Grayling…all of which are considered “species at risk” in Alberta with these trout species all listed provincially as Threatened and Arctic Grayling listed as Special Concern.
Partners have been instrumental in the project so far with municipalities providing permissions and doing the installation along municipally maintained roadways. These include the MD of Pincher Creek, Town of Pincher Creek, Northern Sunrise County, County of Grande Prairie, MD of Ranchland, Clearwater County, and the MD of Greenview. The Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance has also been a big help facilitating partnerships in Peace Country. In this first year of the program, over 100 signs have been printed or are in the works.
We are pleased with the success of this past year, however, Trout Unlimited Canada and the Native Trout Collaborative do not have the capacity to do this alone. One of the reasons the BC program has become ubiquitous is because it is community-driven. If you belong to a community group, watershed group, municipality, or industry partner with publicly used roads, you can help! We are working on a guidance document to help other groups install signs in the communities and watersheds where they live, work, and play. You can also contact your local municipality to let them know you’d like to see these signs in your area.
We hope that these signs instill a sense of pride and respect in what otherwise may have appeared to be an unnamed and irrelevant creek. We also hope that these signs increase awareness of and curiosity for native trout and grayling and their habitats. And finally, we hope that this sparks conversation and interest in native trout and grayling and the actions needed to recover their dwindling populations.
For more information about Alberta’s native trout, please visit the Native Trout Collaborative website.
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