All of us anglers love our sport. And a big part of that love is our passion for the great outdoors. This translates into a deep respect for the ecology of lakes, rivers, and streams.
Our fathers and grandfathers felt the same way. Now we understand more about how interconnected all species are, more than our forebears did.
We can sum up what this means for responsible sport fishermen. Here are 6 best practices for fishing trout, walleye, and other fish sustainably.
1. Financially support healthy fish populations – buy a fishing license.
When you buy a fishing license and a Canadian Outdoors Card, if applicable, the fees fund programs that benefit the fish in our waterways. The same agencies that issue fishing licenses also manage research into the health of our aquatic ecologies.
Biologists study the species populations in the lakes, rivers, and streams. Hydrologists study the water volume, flow, pH, and pollution. This helps the agency develop policy and regulations to improve and conserve the environment. This protects sport fishing now and for future generations.
2. Know the fishing regulations that govern the waters you fish.
These regulations will tell you what bodies of water are protecting recovering fish populations. These are closed to fishing.
A good example are Whitepine Lake and Whirligig Lake in Ontario’s Lady Evelyn River system. These two lakes are the only natural habitat in the world for Aurora trout (Salvelinus fontinalis tigamiensis). Aurora trout nearly went extinct in the 1950’s.
Whitepine and Whirligig lakes are now closed to fishing to protect that population. They have been naturalized in 12 other lakes and those may be fished. Very strict fishing regulations protect these populations as well.
3. Practice Catch and Release.
Your fishing regulations will identify which species you may catch and how many you can keep. You can keep fishing once you fill your limit, but you must release any additional fish. Release them in a way that they have a good chance to survive. You can go one step farther and release larger fish of prime reproductive age even if regulations allow you to keep them. This will help ensure a healthy fish population and good numbers of large fish for catching enjoyment.
A few years ago, conservation groups in Idaho were concerned that the practice of catch and release fishing is still lethal to steelhead trout. The University of Idaho and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game conducted studies to address that concern. They showed that Idaho anglers using catch-and-release techniques were not adversely affecting trout mortality.
4. Do not release invasive fish species if you catch them.
Catch and release practices are intended to protect native and stocked fish populations. Fish that are introduced into a lake or river system that is not native to them can become an invasive species.
An example is theRound Goby (Neogobiusmelanostomus) which is native to the Black and Caspian Seas in eastern Europe.In 1990 they traveled in the ballast water of ships from that area. They were inadvertently released in the Great Lakes.
Round Gobies are invasive because they are very aggressive feeders and spawners. They eat the eggs and fry of all species of native fish. They spawn in rocky habitats and aggressively defend those sites. That prevents native fish from spawning.
You can’t even eat Round Gobies because they can cause Tetrodotoxin poisoning. If you catch a Round Goby you are required to kill it immediately.
5. “Get the lead out”.
Lead poisoning does not just happen to little children eating the flaking chips of lead paint in old houses. Lead is still a common component in fishing tackle. It is found in most fishing jigs and sinkers.
Lead poisoning causes nervous and reproductive system damage in fish, birds, and mammals. Sport fishermen contribute to this problem when they use tackle containing lead. Even if it is only a little bit because lead exposure accumulates up the food chain.
Chronic led poisoning is from repeated low-dose exposure over time. A fish swallows lead tackle, a bigger fish swallows that one plus some of his own lead tackle. A top predator fish swallows several lower echelon fish who have eaten lead. A loon, eagle or bear eats these fish. Fish, birds, and mammals die throughout the food chain. Especially at the top.
90 percent of the bald eagles in the University of Minnesota’s College of Veterinary Medicine Raptor Center have elevated lead in their blood. 25 percent of those have clinical lead poisoning. Most of these die.
New Hampshire has one the US’s toughest bans on lead sinkers and jigs. But in 2018, 8 loons died on lakes and ponds in that state from ingesting these sinkers.
6. Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but fish.
This is slightly modified from a Boy Scout motto because it really fits with sustainable fishing practices. There is no regular morning trash pickup in our beautiful wilderness fishing spots. It is our responsibility to not leave our trash to foul the water or harm animals that rummage through it.
Like lead poisoning, animal mortality from ingesting bits of trash can be by accumulation. At some point the indigestible items block the digestive track and the animal starves.
That happened to several bald eagles in Washington State in April 2017. Veterinarian LesannaLahner was unable to save them. There was no other damage to them. They died looking for food in the trash we leave behind.
Sustainable fishing has been practiced since the 1970’s in Ontario.
The Ministry of Natural Resources tracked fishery decline in the post-World War II era. It responded with “strategic planning”. Sustainable fishing gradually developed from this. This concept has also developed elsewhere around the world.
Sustainable fishing is helping make trout fishing in Ontario a great experience.
The cold water that trout love, and the weather that keeps it cold, have always been here in Ontario. The three native species of trout; Aurora trout, Brook trout, and Lake trout, and the two naturalized species Brown trout and Rainbow trout historically have thrived to greatness. Sustainable fishing has restored the ecology of our water bodies to benefit trout populations.
Sustainable fishing ismaintaining the best walleye fishing in Ontario.
Walleye fishing has been fantastic in Ontario since the first Europeans settled here in the 1780’s. Walleye sustained the First Nations of Ontario long before that. Walleye populations would have suffered overfishing without the implementation of sustainable fishing.Wildewood on Lake Savant is a fishing adventure resort located in the remote wilderness of Ontario, Canada. Andy Kerecman manages their blog (https://wildewoodonlakesavant.com/about-resort/blog/) to celebrate the pristine landscape around the lake and the amazing trophy fishing that can be had.
fishing and hunting 