Harvesting Roe

[nittro]

On Monday I noticed a brown trout that had been stripped of it's eggs struggling to get below the surface. The belly was severely indented due to the force used to release the eggs. This incident, if viewed by a CO, would have resulted in a charge based on an angler making a legal catch and allowing the fish to go to waste.

A phone call to MNR provincial offices to determine what they are doing to control and manage the harvesting of eggs for bait provided the following legal interpretation.

Any fish not released immediately is deemed to be part of the daily legal limit. An angler that strips roe from a fish, then releases it, is deemed to have caught that fish.

While there are no specific regulations, as YET, regarding the harvesting of roe from trout and salmon, the ministry considers the action to be unethical when the fish is released. If the fish is retained as part of the anglers catch limit, there is no problem.

Of note, the new regulations will directly address the culling of fish kept in a livewell.

I'm certain this thread will generate significant feedback of expert opinions and advice. Let's keep it clean.

[smerchly]

From what I've "heard" , the new regs wil be an eye opener for many fishers ! I believe they (mnr) have peole reading fishing web sites like this one and pick up points to ponder with hot topics and we will see some new additions to the rules ( hope the reg book is not a thick as a phone book) . We will have some reading to do ....and maybe some testing to get a licence ?

Nittro ....the only way to avoid seeing fish that are squeezed to death is to take the fish as part of your limit . You can't put a "percentage squeeze allowance " on any fish . How can you control that ? Another option , and we may be reading that soon, is a lower limit on trout .....like 2 fish.........Don't be surprized at drastic changes to the regs . which should be out by.Jan. 1 ( should be out NOW !!)

[Dan Andrews]

Your both right. I've said it all along. Even if the fish isn't table fare like an old black salmon. If you want the eggs bad enough you'll retain the fish instead of gutting it and leaving it on the shoreline for the public to see and smell.

Are the browns not good to eat after the spawn? Why would we want to waste a good fishery just to catch more. seems rather self destructive.

Smerch I'll agree whole heartedly that the MNR is making itself look very incompetent by holding rainbow regulation meetings so close to doomsday when they've had 2 whole years to get this done. Perhaps this is just a statement to those who fund them. "We in the fish and wildlife department can't do our job without the proper tools and funding".

[bigugli]

I'm sure there will be a lot of kicking and screaming when the new regs come out.

[jwl]

doesn't bother me,heck maybe all year long if that I may keep only maybe a 1 day possession limit in total if that at all, I have only kept like 4-5 trout ever out of all the years I have been fishing,for 2007 I kept a grand total of about 6 walleye and maybe 10-12 perch..the way I see it the regs are the regs, and should be fully enforced. I have also never milked a fish for roe,if I catch an egg laden fish and pull it out of the water and it starts spewing eggs everywhere, sure I will collect some. Asfor culling fish, I would like to see what they have to say about that..I know you are already NOT supposed to cull fish from a stringer...once it's strung that's it it's considered a keeper,everyone I am sure who keeps a few fish has culled a few fish, and how would they regulate this in a tournament type setting, you also see it on alot of fishing shows as well,I am sure if they are already having trouble keeping up to complaints and enforing the law in regards to,overharvesting,people keeping undersized or OOS fish there will be alot of trouble trying to keep up on the water making sure that noone is actually throwin gpart of thier catch back out of the livewell.....then I can see a whole other load hitting the fan...take for example, a C&R fishing tournament, fish are brought to weigh in, sometimes put in a holding tank, but after weigh in all the fish are released...so if an angler has 4-5 fish they brought in for a weigh-in aboard the boat in the livewell to be released after, and that is ok...what would make it not ok to take fish hours sooner out of the livewell and release them when it's ok to travel around with them all day in your boat and release them at the end of the day.....I can see lots of crap starting from that...so it's ok to release a fish after having it in the livewell for 5-6 hours, but not ok to "trade on in" that has been in the livewell for 10 minutes if you get a bigger one

[packrat]

On one of my trips to Port so far witnessed what appeared to be "locals" land a foul hooked brown, proceed to milk it for the roe and then drop it back in to the water.

Not cool guys---you never know just who is watching.

Less anyone think I might be talking out of place when I described them as locals---only because in two trips have seen both the guys there---they appear to be well known amongst the crowd that hangs out at the end of the east pier.

[nittro]

Just a bit of clarification.

The topic of livewell culling is in reference to including walleye and pike so they are treated the same as bass in a tournament. No other details were provided regarding the regular sport fishery. "That was not a dig to say bassers are irregular"

Expect a limit of 2 for bows on the tribs while Lake O will remain at 5, in combination with salmon. As the focus groups continue, the management unit was quick to point out they have the ability to adjust the regs at any time during the year.

[Guest Rockfish]

Any fish not released immediately is deemed to be part of the daily legal limit. An angler that strips roe from a fish, then releases it, is deemed to have caught that fish.

While there are no specific regulations, as YET, regarding the harvesting of roe from trout and salmon, the ministry considers the action to be unethical when the fish is released. If the fish is retained as part of the anglers catch limit, there is no problem.

Thanks for the clarification Nittro from the MNR, this discussion went on for a while about an interpretation in the other forum.

[Guest canadadude]

As an avid trouter who collects roe from fish, I think you should learn more about the process and learn that 95% of the brownies that are milked for eggs survive when realeased, its a very small percentage of fish that don't recover!! In fact I've caught at least a dozen stripped fish in the past week that were extremely healthy!!!! Most fish that don't recover when released are netted and taken home for the table!! I fish Port on a regular basis and rarely see a dead brown, we are not slicing and chucking fish we are merely stripping some roe for fishing purposes and we may stress the fish for awhile but they do recover and are smoking our baits within a day or 2!!! I don't understand why the trib limits are being sliced yet the boaters can go out and ravage the resouce at will !!!! :angry2

As far as wasting the resource the river dudes are probably the only ones utilising the Brown fishery except for a few who target the species early spring there are very few who target brownies during the summer months!!!!!Anyway sounds like there making alot of uninforcable regulations good luck getting evidence after a dude culled a fish unless video cameras are going to be put up at port

[Guest canadadude]

On Monday I noticed a brown trout that had been stripped of it's eggs struggling to get below the surface. The belly was severely indented due to the force used to release the eggs. This incident, if viewed by a CO, would have resulted in a charge based on an angler making a legal catch and allowing the fish to go to waste.

A phone call to MNR provincial offices to determine what they are doing to control and manage the harvesting of eggs for bait provided the following legal interpretation.

Any fish not released immediately is deemed to be part of the daily legal limit. An angler that strips roe from a fish, then releases it, is deemed to have caught that fish.

While there are no specific regulations, as YET, regarding the harvesting of roe from trout and salmon, the ministry considers the action to be unethical when the fish is released. If the fish is retained as part of the anglers catch limit, there is no problem.

Of note, the new regulations will directly address the culling of fish kept in a livewell.

I'm certain this thread will generate significant feedback of expert opinions and advice. Let's keep it clean.

The bellies of browns are always indented after they drop there eggs weather there stripped or spawn naturally!!! I've personally caught at least a dozen hens with indented bellies in the last week!!!! After those fat hens drop there egg the belly gets indented and takes alittle time for them to regain there nonspawning condition this is a normal biological event!!!