Alberta "Stonecat" Fish

Observation by Brett Onofrychuk:

While on the Milk River in 2023, I was able to catch a fish that looked like a small catfish. Until that point I was unaware that Alberta had any native catfish and with the threat of invasive species accessing our waterways the initial reaction was this might be a an introduced species.

After reaching out to Shane Petry the Fisheries Manager for Southern Alberta Region. He confirmed that this was a native species that only exists in the Milk River System in Alberta and is apart of the Missouri waterway. The fish is called the Stonecat and is a species of concern.

These fish only exist in the Milk River system in Alberta and their population in impacted by water extraction, drought, habitat impacts, water quality issues and weather pattern changes due to climate change. The Province of Alberta is working on a draft recovery strategy for the Stonecat to assist in knowing their life cycle better, but to help support stable populations. The strategy looks at not only the Stonecat, but previously SARA (Species at Risk Act) listed species such as the Western Silvery Minnow, and the Rocky Mountain Sculpin that are only found in our most southern streams.

Through this observations the goal is to educate others on another native fish species that is part of Alberta's vast fisheries.