Fish and Wildlife Guardian Program

[bigfish1965]

So with the end of the salmon hullabaloo...many people suggested a return of the Guardian Program.

It may have been cancelled due to costs or available resources, but if we want it back we could likely scream enough untill they do it.

Clearly we are never going to have enough CO's...I don't even know that it is possible.

But with the Guardians being a very effective deterrent and special eyes and ears for the CO's, the enforcement could improve tremendously if organised properly.

My experience as a Guardian was that the CO's were very supportive and appreciated having people who were trained in what to look for and what evidence they needed in order to proceed.

But the visual deterrant was the biggest impact. I can;t tell you how many times we would show up and guys would just run away to their cars and take off. No idea what they were up to.

One guy came running up to me and begged forgiveness for fishing without a license (I never asked..it was not within our mandate to check). I told him Canadian Tire was still open...he raced and got one and came back to show me. I told him then that he did a good thing and we chatted about the fishing and showed him how to set up a slip bobber for the crappie he was after.

We often went to kids fishing events and helped out by tying hooks, changing baits and unhooking fish as well. It was all about being visible, friendly and helpful and was a great experience.

I do miss it and I made many great contacts while doing it.

Thoughts and ideas are appreciated...but know that the MNR will not likely ever put Guardians in the position of making arrests, it is too dangerous. Some guys do not react well to being caught at all.

[Guest gbfisher]

If the deputies are anything like the one that used to be....on lake Joe. I say no as they only cause more harm than they do good.

With the new wannabe CO attitude they treat all people like poachers before they are treated like fishermen/hunters....and have zero authority to do anything unless accompanied by a real CO. It creates a large problem when they ask if they can search your property and you have done nothing wrong.

 

now if it can be a different way? Id be all for it......

[bigfish1965]

Guardians are not deputies and have no authority to search...only to observe.

[misfish]

I want to be one.

Just so I can harasse GB. LOL

[spinnerbaitking]

I went for the Program & enjoyed it too, but we had a few guys that actually thought they would get to carry a Gun, not sure why, I still report things if I see them, even carry a video camera most of the time, we definately were told we had no authority & try to educate were possible & not to approach people, breaking the law, I found the bright orange to be intimidating so I didn't always wear it, worked good

Richard

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

i say no. not because i didn't like the program, but because there's no use in a program of that sort when there is not an adequately funded, adequately staffed agency set to respond to guardian phone calls.

[cram]

I would much rather pay more for my fishing license and see it go directly to CO budget....either to hire more or enable somehow.

 

For every 5 folks who sign up for the right reasons i'm sure there'll be 1 or more who sign up for the wrong reasons...and i'd hate to be on the wrong end of a power hungry guy infringing on my weekend, especially if he/she didn't know the rules.

[POLLIWOGG]

CPS used to do courtesy checks for safety equipment on boats through Trans. Ca. but Trans. Ca. offloaded the program to CPS because they didn't want the liability just the resulting data. I think you'll find the same here, someone has decided that there is a liability factor.