How high-intensity flames can shape aquatic life and make ripples through fish habitat. Editors Note: You can hear Alex talk about the effects of the wildfire season on my podcast # 52 on this website under The Complete Angler! Author Dr. Alexandra Schoen, Fish Culture Manager, Fisheries Branch, Natural Resources and Indigenous Futures “The rise of larger, hotter, longer-burning wildfires can be problematic for both terrestrial and aquatic environments.’ Western Canada is no stranger to wildfire, but the 2025 season has been record-breaking. Wildfires in the prairies and northern boreal regions burned through much of the summer, giving us a…
Author: Alexandra Schoen
Alexandra Schoen
Alex is the Fish Culture Manager for the Province of Manitoba. She moved to Manitoba for school and has been ‘hooked’ ever since. She has a PhD in fish and shark physiology, with an emphasis on fish stress. She most recently served as a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Winnipeg. Her post-doctoral work focused on the impacts of recreational angling on maternal stress in lake trout and walleye. The study was designed to find out catch and release and angling during the spawn affects offspring. The final data is pending but maternal stress seems to change the stress response in baby lake trout. Going fishing and raising baby fish were the best parts of my research, but when not fishing at work, I enjoy fishing for fun, especially for stocked trout and burbot.