Introduction

Westslope Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi) are native in Canada to southeastern BC in part of the Kootenay River drainage, and in Alberta to the Bow and Oldman river drainages. The subspecies have been widely transplanted in both provinces outside of this native range.

AWA Position:

AWA believes all populations of genetically-pure Westslope Cutthroats in their native habitats in Alberta must be rated as Endangered. Unless recognition is afforded them, and protection and recovery plans are implemented in the near future, this subspecies will be extirpated from this province. (British Columbia has implemented this, and their populations are substantially more secure than are Alberta’s.)

Status:

In 2006, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) designated the Westslope Cutthroat Trout as threatened. The designation was made because native populations of this fish have been reduced by almost 80% through habitat loss, over-harvesting and introduction of non-native species of fish. Under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) the threatened designation means that a wildlife species is likely to become endangered if nothing is done to reverse the factors threatening it.

According to website for Alberta Sustainable Resource Development (December 2011), "The native stocks of this species have been approved for listing as Threatened in Alberta under the Wildlife Act (awaiting legislative amendment)..."

A joint federal-provincial Westslope Cutthroat Trout recovery team was convened in early 2009, and submitted its draft recovery Plan in November 2011.