Let’s be clear on the revolving-door proposal to stock McGuire with trout. First, it has little if anything to do with science – particularly ecological science.
Rather, it has everything to do with ideology – in this instance, the ideology of a vested-interest, minority group, the Freshwater Fisheries Society of B.C., that wishes to impose its own social beliefs and values (fishing and fish- stocking) on the lake’s reasonably natural environment – and that means, on the community – on all of us.
Introducing fish that are physiologically unadapted to the temperature regimes of McGuire Lake can simply be described as unnatural and potentially disruptive to its present ecological condition.
And how fascinating that fish-stocking is somehow automatically assumed to be a good thing – beyond question, debate, or consideration of how natural biological systems actually work in the real world.
And mightn’t we hope that an outdoors-oriented group would be truly interested in the natural environment?
Perhaps even more fascinating is the highly supportive position taken by our, that’s right our, Ministry of Environment. I know, you thought that they were mandated to monitor, protect, and help sustain natural ecological systems; however, their rationale for supporting stocking, including “education” of youngsters, provision of intrusive docks, and promotion of fishing licence sales. (how ‘natural’ is that ?), says, not necessarily so.
With apologies to Deuteronomy 13, which states, more or less: “Natural environment and ill-informed manipulation are set before you: therefore choose natural.”
(And say – shouldn’t we be ridding McGuire of any pesky, trout-eating herons, ospreys and kingfishers?).
Tom Crowley