Parks Canada has announced new regulations for non-motorized recreation and angling at Waterton Lakes National Park, beginning April 1, 2024. (Photo: J. Goulet - Pattison Media)

By Justin Goulet

Parks Canada announces watercraft and angling restrictions for Waterton

Mar 19, 2024 | 3:52 PM

To reduce the risk of aquatic invasive species (AIS), Parks Canada has announced new regulations for non-motorized recreation and angling at Waterton Lakes National Park.

Beginning on April 1, 2024, the following measures will be implemented:

• Non-motorized watercraft from outside the park boundaries will not be allowed to enter waterbodies within Waterton Lakes National Park.
• Angling for all fish species will no longer be permitted in flowing waters (streams and rivers) in the national park but will continue as per current regulations in park lakes.

Non-motorized watercraft include:

• Canoes
• Kayaks
• Rafts
• Stand-up paddle boards (inflatable and hard)
• Sailboats
• Paddle boats
• Belly boats
• Drift boats
• Windsurfers
• Kit boards
• Inflatable watercraft
• Pedal-assisted kayaks
• Catamarans
• Other amphibious watercraft

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Under the newly-announced rules, exempt watercraft will still be permitted to launch in the park.

This includes rental businesses operating inside the park and users whose watercraft do not leave the boundaries of the area. Owners are required to take a short course on AIS and have their watercraft inspected by Parks Canda staff to qualify for the exemption.

Officials say because of the high recreational use of the park and the places in which visitors and their watercraft arrive from, the waters at Waterton are at a high risk of AIS.

Parks Canada says whirling disease, an infectious disease of finfish, is present downstream of the Waterton dam. In 2023, it was detected for the first time within the boundaries of the park. Officials say whirling disease mortality rates can reach 90 per cent in young fish and there is no treatment.

The change in regulations in Waterton follow similar AIS-prevention measures in other mountain parks, like Yoho and Kootenay national parks in British Columbia.

YOHO & KOOTENAY NATIONAL PARKS

At the end of October, Parks Canada closed all water access in Yoho and Kootenay national parks after discovering a suspected case of whirling disease in Emerald Lake, British Columbia.

READ MORE: Parks Canada says whirling disease could decimate fish, respect B.C. closures

Officials say this was the first detection of the disease in the province. Additional testing detected the disease in the Kicking Horse River, Wapta Lake, Finn Creek, Monarch Creek and the confluence of the Emerald and Kicking Horse River.

To minimize the risk of further spread, all waterbodies in these national parks are closed to watercraft and angling until March 31, 2025.

More information is available at the Parks Canada website.