Possession Limits - A Common Sense Question

[cuttincircles]

Just wondering, we all fish, family of 5 and all live together. When you bring fish home, should you somehow be identifying who caught what for what is jn possessuon for each license in the freezer or is it not really matter as much as long as it doesnt go over the total for all licenses.

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[TroutBaus]

I put pictures of the specific fish caught in the hands of the catcher as well as photocopy of fishing license of what ever member of my family caught the fish into the vac seal bag and then into freezer.

If I don't do this I find myself having fevered dreams of F&W kicking down my door sifting through fish bones in my stool.

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[CNP]

...Maximum possession – All fish kept from any lake or stream, from any Watershed Unit, count as part of the Maximum Possession that must not be exceeded. An angler may never possess more fish from a specific lake or stream than the Daily Catch Limit, but may possess a cumulative total of Daily Catch Limits of fish from different lakes or streams up to the allowed Maximum Possession limit for each species.

The Maximum Possession of fish you may have, including fish at your permanent residence, for each game fish species or group of species, including fish caught under a special harvest licence, is listed below:
Trout – 5 in total, combined of:
0 bull trout (native to Alberta);
2 Northern Dolly Varden (stocked in Chester Lake only);
1 golden trout;
3 lake trout;
5 cutthroat trout;
5 rainbow trout;
5 brown trout;
5 brook trout;
5 tiger trout.

Arctic Grayling – 0
Mountain Whitefish – 5 in total.
Walleye and Sauger – 3 in combined total.
Northern Pike – 3 in total.
Yellow Perch – 15 in total.
Lake Whitefish and Cisco (Tullibee) – 10 in combined total.
Goldeye and Mooneye – 10 in combined total.
Burbot (Ling) – 10 in total.
Lake Sturgeon – 0
Non-game fish – no restriction on the numbers kept.
NOTE: The limits and size restrictions that exist at specific lakes and streams are listed in the Watershed Unit sections of each Fish Management Zone.

[MooseRiverTrapper]

I put pictures of the specific fish caught in the hands of the catcher as well as photocopy of fishing license of what ever member of my family caught the fish into the vac seal bag and then into freezer.

If I don't do this I find myself having fevered dreams of F&W kicking down my door sifting through fish bones in my stool.

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Wow that is living in extreme fear haha. Wild.

[cuttincircles]

...And what is this for? I know the regs and limits, this does not explain my question.

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[cuttincircles]

I put pictures of the specific fish caught in the hands of the catcher as well as photocopy of fishing license of what ever member of my family caught the fish into the vac seal bag and then into freezer.

If I don't do this I find myself having fevered dreams of F&W kicking down my door sifting through fish bones in my stool.

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using TapatalkWe always have pics for memories, but ya I guess could for every fish.



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[CNP]

And what is this for? I know the regs and limits, this does not explain my question.

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It does answer your question. Anything else would be opinion.

[58thecat]

It does answer your question. Anything else would be opinion.

Exactly and pretty straight forward but toss in a opinion or two and then the poop show starts.:)

Now gotta go eat two more trout so I can catch and keep two today:sHa_shakeshout:

[Penner]

The fun is in the catching not the keeping

[AlbertanGP]

I'm still looking for the common sense in this question...

[smith88]

I don't believe the fish have to be identified. When fishing on the west coast, you must write down on your printed license what area you caught Chinook and halibut as well at what the lengths where. I believe if you had to keep track of who's fish was who's, it would be something like that.

[Ebrand]

If you have sufficient licences/people to cover what you have legally stored. It would be impossible for them to allege your family or any one member is "over" any limit. Let your conscience guide you here.

You can also "gift" legally caught fish to another person. Making it even more difficult for them to prove who belongs to what fish.

I don't keep fish anymore and I am not advocating that you cheat any possession limits.

Re-read the regs and ensure that whatever you are doing fits.

Had a long talk with a F&W guy years ago about game bird limits.

He reluctantly agreed that I could shoot my limit of grouse and be in possession of my limit (10 a day and 20 total back then) and then give them to my Dad (who was no longer hunting). Once Dad had the birds, my limits were were open for me hunt with again.

The limit of 20 applied to my Dad. Even with no licence and being gifted the birds he could not have more than 20 in his possession.

I shot birds to my heart's content and stayed with in my limits. Once I made the trip and delivery to Dad my limits were open again.

F&W guy tried to make it sound like what I was doing was shady but admitted it was legal.

I hate eating grouse and would not have shot them except for Dad loving them.

No rules were broken. No birds were wasted.

See if you can read the rules and apply this to your fish situation.

If the fish are legally taken and possessed and none are wasted you should be just fine.

[CardiacCowboy]

Maybe different for fishing. A fish caught and given away counts toward your daily limit. However not towards your possession limit. So.... If you caught 5 trout and gave them away to your dad you are done for the day but can can continue keeping the next day.

Now tricky is if you have 4 people in your house hold and you are the only licensed fisher can you give away 15 trout to them and keep 5 for yourself, are you compliant?

If you have sufficient licences/people to cover what you have legally stored. It would be impossible for them to allege your family or any one member is "over" any limit. Let your conscience guide you here.

You can also "gift" legally caught fish to another person. Making it even more difficult for them to prove who belongs to what fish.

I don't keep fish anymore and I am not advocating that you cheat any possession limits.

Re-read the regs and ensure that whatever you are doing fits.

Had a long talk with a F&W guy years ago about game bird limits.

He reluctantly agreed that I could shoot my limit of grouse and be in possession of my limit (10 a day and 20 total back then) and then give them to my Dad (who was no longer hunting). Once Dad had the birds, my limits were were open for me hunt with again.

The limit of 20 applied to my Dad. Even with no licence and being gifted the birds he could not have more than 20 in his possession.

I shot birds to my heart's content and stayed with in my limits. Once I made the trip and delivery to Dad my limits were open again.

F&W guy tried to make it sound like what I was doing was shady but admitted it was legal.

I hate eating grouse and would not have shot them except for Dad loving them.

No rules were broken. No birds were wasted.

See if you can read the rules and apply this to your fish situation.

If the fish are legally taken and possessed and none are wasted you should be just fine.

[CardiacCowboy]

I put pictures of the specific fish caught in the hands of the catcher as well as photocopy of fishing license of what ever member of my family caught the fish into the vac seal bag and then into freezer.

If I don't do this I find myself having fevered dreams of F&W kicking down my door sifting through fish bones in my stool.

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This is not needed. FW need to be able to prove that one of you was over limit. Once you are off the water and home you are safe from having to prove which fish belongs to who. This is only of course if you followed the rules on the water. If they saw you break the rules and were unable to stop you on the water they could track you down and go to your house.

[CardiacCowboy]

There is little common sense to the possession limit being the same a daily limit as long as it includes fish not on you.

Of course I know why it exists because of people taking advantage and challenging fw to prove that they did not catch the fish over several days.

If people actually followed the rules we could easly have possession limits that are equal to double the daily limit.

[Ebrand]

Maybe different for fishing. A fish caught and given away counts toward your daily limit. However not towards your possession limit. So.... If you caught 5 trout and gave them away to your dad you are done for the day but can can continue keeping the next day.

Now tricky is if you have 4 people in your house hold and you are the only licensed fisher can you give away 15 trout to them and keep 5 for yourself, are you compliant?


If you do not exceed you daily limit in a day. And are not in possession of more than your possession limit you are fine.

You could catch 5 today and give them to a person in your house. Tomorrow you could catch another 5 and gift them to another person. This can go on until each person reaches their possession limit.

Your daily limit is exactly that. The number that you are allowed to catch/shoot in one day. If you catch/shoot 5 and your limit is 5 you are done with that species until another day (providing you do not exceed your total possession limit. Once you have gifted what you have you are no longer in possession of them.

They have to prove (you do not have to justify your possession beyond that you are licenced and there are people in your household that possess lawfully possess the species kept.) how one person is over their possession limit.

Unless someone (officer/ Report a Poacher complainant etc.) is willing to come to court and give evidence they saw a person catch/shoot more than they were allowed in a day, or is in possession of more than they are allowed they will not be able to prove an over possession offence.

Gifting them does not reset your daily limit.

So in the old days... if somehow ( BIG SOMEHOW ) an officer found 20 (within the possession limit then) Grouse in in Dad's freezer... His explanation that I gifted them to him would likely lead to the officer checking that I was licenced to hunt/possess the Grouse. Dad would be fine even though he has not had a licence for years. If he had 21 Grouse he would be over possession.


Dad ate Grouse faster than I could ever get them to him.

This was all legal 10 years ago. Dad is gone now and I have not read up on any changes since then.

Read up on the regs. Make sure you understand what you can do and how to do it.

[Isopod]

Best to ask a game warden next time you encounter one. But from a common sense standpoint, I would say that if the number of fish doesn't exceed the number allowed by all licensees combined, then you should be fine. Identifying which fish was caught by which person would be pointless since you could simply move fish from one person's bag to another and claim they caught them. How could anyone possibly prove otherwise?

[58thecat]

See those words common and sense used together yet differs from person to person on the exact same subject yet the regs state very clearly....as indicated earlier.

[schleprock]

Cuttincircles, "it doesn't really matter" as long as you are not over the possession limits for the five people in your house.

[sorceror]

If you do not exceed you daily limit in a day. And are not in possession of more than your possession limit you are fine.

You could catch 5 today and give them to a person in your house. Tomorrow you could catch another 5 and gift them to another person. This can go on until each person reaches their possession limit.

Your daily limit is exactly that. The number that you are allowed to catch/shoot in one day. If you catch/shoot 5 and your limit is 5 you are done with that species until another day (providing you do not exceed your total possession limit. Once you have gifted what you have you are no longer in possession of them.

They have to prove (you do not have to justify your possession beyond that you are licenced and there are people in your household that possess lawfully possess the species kept.) how one person is over their possession limit.

Unless someone (officer/ Report a Poacher complainant etc.) is willing to come to court and give evidence they saw a person catch/shoot more than they were allowed in a day, or is in possession of more than they are allowed they will not be able to prove an over possession offence.

Gifting them does not reset your daily limit.

So in the old days... if somehow ( BIG SOMEHOW ) an officer found 20 (within the possession limit then) Grouse in in Dad's freezer... His explanation that I gifted them to him would likely lead to the officer checking that I was licenced to hunt/possess the Grouse. Dad would be fine even though he has not had a licence for years. If he had 21 Grouse he would be over possession.


Dad ate Grouse faster than I could ever get them to him.

This was all legal 10 years ago. Dad is gone now and I have not read up on any changes since then.

Read up on the regs. Make sure you understand what you can do and how to do it.

The give away counts as your daily limits.
Technically it is unlawful to give away your 5 fish then fish another 5.

There is a difference between "Set a law" and "enforce a law".
Let me make a simple example: you are driving 61km/h on a road with speed limit of 60km. From "enfoce" point, it is very unlikely you will be charged for speeding. However, if you admit you were driving 61km on a court, you may be charged.

Back to our fishing limit. If you give away your 5 fish to someone and the fish officer doesn't know about it. It is very hard to charge you anything, you could make up whatever story you like. However, when an office asks you how many you caught today, if you respond you caught 6 and your family/friend caught 1, so you give 1 to him/her, believe me, you will be fined.

Of course, above example is made based on a waterbody with 5 fish limits.

[Vapor]

The fun is in the catching not the keeping

That's a matter of opinion.

I for one enjoy catching, cooking and eating my fish.
The blend of all three experiences makes my world complete.
:D