Kootenay Lake Fishery meeting scheduled for Monday in Balfour

By Nelson Daily Staff

Having a strong kokanee fish population is very important to the community of Balfour. There's a public meeting scheduled for the Balfour Hall Monday at 7 p.m. to discuss the current problem of dwindiling stocks.

Monday, at the Balfour Hall in Balfour, two local outdoor clubs — British Columbia Wildlife Federation (BCWF) and the West Arm Outdoors Club (WAOC) — have scheduled a public meeting to begin to address the dwindling kokanee fish on Kootenay Lake.

The two groups are calling on the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations (FLNRO) to take immediate action to help improve fish stocks.

 “We believe the Ministry is not reacting adequately to the seriousness of the problem given the long lasting impact the fishery decline will have on recreational fishing, tourism, real estate and the local economy,” Harvey Andrusak, a former Fisheries Manager with regional Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks and a BCWF Director who is intimately familiar with the lake said in media release.

The BCWF and WAOC said that in the last three years, the Meadow Creek spawning channel — which usually supports 500,000 to one million kokanee spawners, ample numbers to sustain rainbow and bull trout — has declined to less than 200,000 annually.

In fall 2014, their numbers were down to 60,000.

The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m.