Burbot Population Monitoring: Lac La Nonne and Lawrence Lake, Alberta, 2025
Interim Report
Author(s)
Nikita Lebedynski, B.Sc., M.Sc., P.Biol.
Summary
In Alberta, burbot (Lota lota) has typically been undervalued as a sport fish and before 2017 the flesh could legally be wasted. Unlike most sport fish that are protected during their spawning season, burbot angling is particularly popular when they congregate for spawning in the winter. Burbot are present in all fisheries management zones of Alberta with most waterbodies having a general bag limit of ten fish of any size and 19 waterbodies having specific regulations between zero and three fish. Given the current and increasing interest in burbot angling, it is important to develop burbot monitoring methodologies in Alberta. Since 2022, we have conducted multiple burbot surveys using cod traps to support our long-term goal of creating an efficient population monitoring protocol.
In 2025, we conducted short feasibility surveys using cod traps at Crawling Valley Reservoir, Ghost Lake, Isle Lake, Lac La Nonne, Lawrence Lake, and Pine Coulee Reservoir to obtain preliminary burbot catch rates to identify suitable waterbodies for population estimates using multiple mark-recapture surveys. Lac La Nonne had the highest catch rate of 0.62 burbot/trap, followed by Ghost Lake (0.52 burbot/trap), Lawrence Lake (0.27 burbot/trap), Pine Coulee Reservoir (0.20 burbot/trap), and Crawling Valley Reservoir (0.03 burbot/trap). No burbot were captured at Isle Lake. Based on these results, we selected Lac La Nonne and Lawrence Lake as the two waterbodies for population estimates in 2025, with Ghost Lake to be surveyed in subsequent years; catch rates at Pine Coulee and Crawling Valley Reservoir were too low to feasibly complete population estimates.
We performed multiple mark-recapture surveys at Lac La Nonne and Lawrence Lake. We captured 134 burbot (0.17 fish/trap) at Lac La Nonne and 63 (0.08 fish/trap) at Lawrence Lake. Catch rates at both lakes declined throughout the summer, resulting in fewer captures than anticipated. We estimated Lac La Nonne to have 1,351 burbot (95% CI = 634–3,085), corresponding to approximately 1.04 burbot/ha in 2025. We were unable to derive a population estimate at Lawrence Lake due to no recaptures.