Minister of Environment, Energy and Forestry, Jamie Ballem, said his department will be turning to Islanders for input on several issues related to the recreational fishery in coming months.
Several recreational fishing, wildlife conservation and watershed groups approached the department last fall with proposals for changes to the provincial angling regulations. As a first step in considering the proposals, about 25 groups from all areas of the province met with Minister Ballem and department staff in December. Those at the meetings asked to take the proposals back to their respective groups for feedback and a follow-up meeting was held last week.
“I want to thank the groups for the time and effort they have put into providing the department with input on the angling regulations,” said Minister Ballem. “Members of these groups are the people who are out on our streams, rivers and ponds, putting in endless volunteer hours to promote, protect and enhance the recreational fishery in Prince Edward Island. They obviously have a great deal of expertise so I value their views.”
At the meeting last week, the groups agreed to recommend several changes to the Minister:
• Reduce the daily catch limit for trout from 10 to six.
• Prohibit fishing through the ice during the spring angling season. This would protect the safety of anglers and protect fish which many people believe are more easily caught through the ice.
• Reduce the daily catch limit on the Wilmot River to allow stocks to recover to the levels seen prior to the fish kills in 2002.
• Protect the larger fish, which are the most valuable spawners, by reducing the maximum size of fish that can be kept or introducing a tag system for large trout.
• Change regulations on fishing gear to allow only barbless hooks and single hooks (no treble hooks) -- both measures that are recognized to improve the chances of survival for a fish that is caught and released.
Minister Ballem said the department will consider all the recommendations and a decision will be made in the coming weeks on whether there will be any change in the daily catch limit or fishing through ice for the 2006 angling season.
It will take more time for department staff to look at the details of the other recommendations related to larger fish and fishing gear so any potential changes in those areas would not be implemented until 2007. In the meantime, Minister Ballem said the department will be looking for direct input from the larger angling community on these recommendations and other questions on which the groups did not reach agreement.
“There were other proposals related to changing the opening day of the angling season and creating a voluntary conservation licence for anglers who practise catch- and-release fishing. However, there was no clear consensus among the groups on whether the changes should be implemented, so we need to seek further input from individual anglers before considering any changes in these areas,” said Minister Ballem.
The department is looking at a variety of means to consult with anglers over the coming months such as telephone surveys and a website feedback form. If there are any changes related to opening day of the angling season or creation of a voluntary conservation licence, the earliest they would be implemented would be 2007.
Minister Ballem said he looks forward to doing much broader consultations on the future of PEI’s recreational fishery later this year as part of plans to develop a Recreational Fisheries Policy which would guide the work of the department.
“We want to determine what role the Province should play as we move forward with anglers to protect and enhance the recreational fishery in Prince Edward Island. How are provincial dollars best spent and how can provincial resources complement the tremendous volunteer effort in the recreational fishery? These are some of the questions we have to address,” said Minister Ballem.
Issues such as fish stocking and river enhancement will be considered as the policy is developed. The Minister thanked the Recreational Fisheries Advisory Committee for their recommendations on fish stocking. He noted that his department will be calling on the expertise of this group and others as the overall Recreational Fisheries Policy is developed. The department will also be seeking input from individual Islanders. Public meetings are expected to be held later in the year.
If Islanders have any comments on the recommendations for changes to the angling regulations, they are invited to email the Department of Environment, Energy and Forestry at environment@gov.pe.ca.