Fisheries Topics Most Important To You

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

It's clear than on OFC there are many healthy and heated discussions on what needs to be done with our fresh/salt water fisheries. So what issue mosts rattles your chain? What do you feel most passionate about?

 

Stocking?

Conservation?

Enforcement?

Invasive Species?

The seal hunt?

The atlantic cod fishery?

Where would you like to see your tax dollars spent?

[kemper]

Stocking/enforcement of regulations on the N shore rivers.

 

Its a complete joke, the only thing stopping me from heading up to the headwaters and slamming trout all day in a closed season is my own conscience and we all know that lots of people don't have one. Would be nice to see a rotating patrol on weekends of the headwaters of the N shore tribs. One guy even doing the best he could would make me happy.

 

I have said it before and Ill say it again, I would gladly pay and extra 50 bucks a year for my license if they could show that the money was going to improve our fisheries

[NAC]

I would gladly pay and extra 50 bucks a year for my license if they could show that the money was going to improve our fisheries

 

ditto here....

[kickingfrog]

More resources for enforcement, conservation and education would lessen the need (money) for stocking.

 

Education for those who want to learn and follow the rules and enforcement for those who do not.

[danc]

I'm not a big fan of stocking. I'd rather see efforts put into conservation and habitat rebuilding so that all species are self sustainable. Stocking just seems like an easy way out and is taken for granted these days. That's not the direction we should be going IMHO.

[kemper]

I'm not a big fan of stocking. I'd rather see efforts put into conservation and habitat rebuilding so that all species are self sustainable. Stocking just seems like an easy way out and is taken for granted these days. That's not the direction we should be going IMHO.

 

 

I agree Dan, but I think that some of our fisheries are too far gone to not resort to stocking. Barring a total ban on fishing (lake charters included) I don't that that the steelhead population would be fishable in ten years (5 years) without any stocking.

 

Conservation of wild strains is always better, but sometimes stocking may be the only answer?

[aniceguy]

I agree Dan, but I think that some of our fisheries are too far gone to not resort to stocking. Barring a total ban on fishing (lake charters included) I don't that that the steelhead population would be fishable in ten years (5 years) without any stocking.

 

Conservation of wild strains is always better, but sometimes stocking may be the only answer?

 

 

ahhh dunno about that one....1 fish in a slot = more fish and bigger fish as I see it for steelhead on the N shore of Lake O

Remember every user of a resource wants something different so there is no single magic bullet answer, while someone might want a certain thing as thier perception of the fishery another will want whats exactly opposite again thier perception of the fishery.

its really a balancing act for the most part and then from time to time radical managment aproaches to deal with an immediate issue ( VHS, or toxic intervention, over harvest bait collapse etc)

 

What I despise is any ministry willing to be overly concerned over optics of an issue and will do the least possible not from cost savings/ cutting but from its fear of disrupting the optics in a scenerio .......that is our current OMNR as they would rather stay status quo then make a decision that might make a user group upset, even if 99.9999 of the pop would support it...

 

from an fm perspective the most important thing we can do is get the managers to understand optics can go both ways

 

sorry bout that mini rant lol

[Cookslav]

I'm not a big fan of stocking. I'd rather see efforts put into conservation and habitat rebuilding so that all species are self sustainable. Stocking just seems like an easy way out and is taken for granted these days. That's not the direction we should be going IMHO.

 

I agree with Dan 100%

Habitat rebuild is were its at moving forward.

If the introduced species can't take hold in a positive manner and become self sustaining perhaps were better off switching our focus to improving the odds for all species with proper and protected Spawning beds?...money well spent IMO

Personally I'd like to see more stocking of sustainable Native fish as opposed to the latter

Splake are fun and mighty tastey but not sustainable unless we continue to stock them being they don't reproduce, and I'm not even sure where to begin with regards to Salmon sustainability.

[Tybo]

I agree with Dan.

 

The only true solution is too shut fishing down!

Help in the efforts of habitat, then leave them alone.

[kennyman]

I agree Dan, but I think that some of our fisheries are too far gone to not resort to stocking. Barring a total ban on fishing (lake charters included) I don't that that the steelhead population would be fishable in ten years (5 years) without any stocking.

 

Conservation of wild strains is always better, but sometimes stocking may be the only answer?

I agree Kemper. It would be nice to see about five times the funds being put into something as important as conservation and enforcement of existing rules. We need more officers and they need to have the resources available to them. This is the greatest resource we have in this country. With a huge "green" revolution happening, what could be more green than saving/maintaining our lakes and rivers? Why isn't this even an election topic? I guess it's not a "sexy" issue. Things like this and aviation (especially commercial jets) having a lifetime exemption on leaded fuel (yes those big birds are allowed to drop lead on us 24/7) drives me nuts. But a gun registry and emission testing almost new vehicles is the way to go ...... yeah right . Sorry, I got off topic there. I know that we can't suddenly increase thier budget five fold, but can't we at least ramp it up so they can have a shot at doing thier jobs properly. It must be one of the most rewarding jobs but so frustrating at the same time.

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

I agree with Dan 100%

Habitat rebuild is were its at moving forward.

If the introduced species can't take hold in a positive manner and become self sustaining perhaps were better off switching our focus to improving the odds for all species with proper and protected Spawning beds?...money well spent IMO

Personally I'd like to see more stocking of sustainable Native fish as opposed to the latter

Splake are fun and mighty tastey but not sustainable unless we continue to stock them being they don't reproduce, and I'm not even sure where to begin with regards to Salmon sustainability.

 

 

I agree with these statements completely!

I believe that habitat restoration is key for the sustainable future of both native and non-native fish species. Stocking (for sustainability) is really a bandaid solution that does nothing but propogate a shallow gene pool. That said, I believe that the stocking of splake and other "put and take" fisheries serve a valid and important function. A major reason behind these lakes is to ATTRACT angling pressure from native stocks, and I do believe that it accomplishes this.

 

The second thing I'd like to see is stronger regs. regarding species which are proving to be unsustainable. If fishing pressure is reducing the quality of our fishery then clearly our fishing quotas need to drop. I feel this applies to both the recreational fishery, and the native/non-native commercial fisheries. I completely condone taking a fish home but do people need to go home with 5 brook trout from a lake the size of a city block? The catch is that stronger regs. mean nothing without stronger enforcement.

 

I too would pay more for my fishing licence provided the money actually went direct to the MNR, which clearly it does not.

 

If just ONCE we had a minister of natural resources that was connected to the environment as opposed to number crunching, perhaps they would be an effective vessel for change.

[spinnerbaitking]

Enforcement, Conservation, Stocking yes we need more enforcement but the best eyes and ears out there are ours, record what you see and report it, conservation and habitat inprovemants are very important, but stocking put and take fish like rainbow or specle trout in the stream and river around the rural areas like they did when we were growing up would help keep some of the kids off the streets and get them interested in fishing again, when I was 10 threw 16 yrs old I lived on the teeswater river, muskrat and alps creek every day, left fishing for a few years and came back very strong and promoting the sport threw canoe trips with kids,4-H fishing club every year and more

Richard

[MCTFisher9120]

Both conservation and enforcement. Too many people out fishing out of season and keeping lot's of fish. As well as it would be nice to see some more shoreline cleanups and stocking. But #1 to me is enforcement, we need more Conservation Officers at least double what we have now.