I must agree, I sent a 3 letters and a handful more emails the day the pic was posted but have yet to receive nary a whisper. Even my usual contact with SRD has been curiously quiet.

:eek::eek::eek:

Someone should hogtie those people and leave them to rot on ice just like those fish. What a shame for all of us!!!

That is a disgusting waste.

I agree with you, Ice.
My dad went up to Utikima a few weeks ago and took a good bunch of burbot in his truck box, to use for himself, his neighbors, and my family as well. Later Fish and Wildlife informed him that he would be charged if he was caught with more than 10 in his truck. He estimates there were over a thousand fish left on the ice, and he can take 10?????????? He was about ready to start WW3 over this. When I told him these pictures were up on this forum and all the comments, it made him feel better. He is a senior and does not have access to a computer, otherwise he would be on these forums all day long!
We need to keep the emails and letters going to our Gov. to get this waste stopped.

easy solution see net pull out buck knife voila bye bye net !! i have done it before and wouldn't even think twice about doing it again! :evilgrin: they waste my resources i waste:evilgrin: there nets !

Danoman,

bad idea to cut nets. That net will fish forever on the bottom of the lake. Might make you feel good at the time, but all the dead fish that net catches are on your conscience.

I hope you are kidding because if you actually did this I would say you are putting your health and possibly your life in serious jeopardy if you were ever caught. Not to mention that tampering with nets is highly illegal. If you disagree with commercial or sustenance netting lobby SRD.

What ????????????
 

If you did this it would leave a " Killing Field " underneath the ice.

Glad someone else sees what I saw. I previously mentioned Utikama lake . I will never ever go back there after what I also saw. This was a couple of years ago and lots of rotten fish left on the ice. Like I said before netting should not be allowed in our lakes and if it is allowed fine these losers who throw their unwanted fish wherever they want. Makes me sick to see this

that's just plain wrong,why can't they just toss them back into the water????:mad3: I have chased these species last season with no luck and these people just waste them like used coffee cups.:tongue2::tongue2:

If anyone cares to speak to my father about this, he informed me that he would be happy to discuss these issues. He is very pro-outdoors, ( and very well known to our local newspaper ), a career trapper, and loves a debate, but like I said before he has no access to internet. I will email anyone his info if you want to contact him - he loves to talk.

Exactly. its really pathetic.
With regs Saying that burbs can be wasted. Youd think they were killing off all the sought after game fish in the lakes. but no. Its just another natural occuring fish in alberta,
Really. How are these fish going to grow so we could get some trophy specimens going on when this is happening. If they keep this up. Its going to be the same with pike in poland.
All the Pike Populations Where killed due to netting and spear fishing. And Now all the fish are only small.
Im not going to be a happy camper if this is what comes of this,

I Dont know about you guys. but i havent seen a 15+ pound burb come out of alberta for years now..

Disappointing to say the least. What a waste.

I also have a tough time catching these guys, only really tried in summer.

This waste is something that definately needs looking into

Waste on L.S.L.
 

I am a commercial fisher, those were not my nets. At present there is no market for burbot as we are forced to sell our commercial catch to the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation and they refuse to buy burbot. We do whatever we can to give these fish away to whoever would like to take them, unfortunately we are not always able to find people who want them. This particular season has a zone that makes it especially difficult to avoid the burbot and still catch the targetted whitefish. There is a commercial quota on the burbot that is never reached as we are usually very good at avoiding this species. As commercial fishers we would like to see anglers keep as many burbot as they can catch. These burbot are extreme predators that are very adept at feeding upon walleye. We have dressed spring burbot and found as many as 60 walleye fingerlings in the belly of one burbot. In our commercial nets we can catch many whitefish with the very odd walleye, the walleye are usually no good as they have spent the night in the belly of a burbot and are partially digested. As for changing the law it would prevent people from seeing the wasted fish but these fish are being eaten by birds coyotees and the like, if the were hauled off of the lake they would needlessly fill our local landfills and truly be waisted. No easy solution here but please know that it is never the intention of a commercial fisher to waste fish.

Have you guys tried the Hutterites. They used to use the burbot for pig feed.

Also try the U of A. dept of Zoology. Given the large sample of fish that is being destroyed, surely there can be some form of research applied from everything from population dynamics and genetics, to parisitology, to neuroendocrinology, to taxonomy, to limnology......to study specimens for introductory biology students.

Well maybe not limnology. They just like to teach students how to protest in front of the legislature buildings.........and spend all their time investigating high alpine lakes......heaven forbid the scoundrel ling cod of Boreal Alberta.

Most groups that buy commercially caught fish are aware that we have no market for this species, they are also aware that burbot are not good keepers. We are always looking for markets for this species and we have found markets but the F.F.M.C. has refused to allow us to sell into those markets. The act that governs the sale of commercially caught fish does not allow us to sell for resale unless they are being sold to the F.F.M.C.
Perhaps we should use this forum to tell people when we will be fishing on lakes that are apt to have a high by-catch of burbot. anyone wanting these fish need only to talk to a fisher, most of us would be happy to give permission and reciepts for as many pounds as anyone would want.

Well this site is the place to find those that want them.
My son and I would love some burbot as a change of pace. Not sure of how many we can legally take (we both have our rec fishing licence), but we will both take up to the legal amount.

I also know of a single mother and family that would appreciate having fish on the table. I take her son out with us whenever I can - he loves to fish but without a father around, I'm his only opportunity. It will be good for him to learn how to fillet some burbs for their table.

And if you need more people to make it convenient to only have one drop/arrangement, I can arrange that. Pass this along to the other guys that you know that net. I am sure there will be others on here that will sign up for taking these burbs rather than having them go to waste.

PM me anytime during your netting season - heck the three of us will even help you pull your nets and help with other stuff that day.

Our next commercial season will be on L.S.L. this spring and I am always happy to take a sports fisher along to show how we do things. As for the burbot caught in our nets there is no limit to the amount that I can give to you. You would probably enjoy the experience and you would find that we are a responsible group who do our best to conserve the resourse and keep a balance that helps to enhance angling oportunities.

I'm glad there was someone from the other side explaining the situation. Now that I have more information, I'm less angry towards the commercial fishermen and more to the red tape and legislation. Thanks for posting on here Mussel.

If you guys were netting closer to Calgary, I'm sure there would be lots of people willing to help clean up the burbot. If I could, I would definitely take all of them, clean them and donate the meat to the meals on wheels or similar organization. That and I'd love to learn how the netting operation works.

Mussel,

I'm in Cold Lake, so if there are any commercial fisherfolks around here that need their burbot taken off their hands, they can get a hold of me. I know lots of folks who would gladly take them!:)

Whats about just donating it to food banks? I bet there would be plenty of people who would take few burbots.

here I am wishing I had caught more burbs through the ice and I see this . I'd be able to find a home for those tasty fish no problem . These are the best eating fish we have in my lowly opinion . I'd even put in some work to get some

Excellent! Your explaination of the situation is much appreciated. I would look forward to it. I am fit, strong and am not afraid of hard physical labour. Would be neat to learn what commerical fishing is like. And any day on the lake fishing is a good day.

Thanks for your input into this issue.

To the Anglers who hate commercial fishing
 

It is sometimes difficult to explain but please know that our industry is carefully controlled and monitored so that the netting of fish is rarely ever detrimental to the resourse. We are carefully monitored and limited to what we catch to avoid overproducing on any specie. Commercial fishing in Alberta is amongst the oldest of our industries and is responsible for the start of many of our communities. Our nets help to maintain a balanced fish population in our lakes. If you consider that some of the very best angling lakes in Alberta have been fished commercially for over 50 years you might begin to understand that we actually enhance angling opportunities by helping to keep a balanced eco-system.
We have other lakes that were fished commercially, Siebert Lake and Gods Lake are examples. These lakes were turned into trophy lakes for angling. Within a few years we see very few trophy fish caught on these lakes. Without the balanced population the angling opportunities diminished and now the sports fishing on those lakes are not as good as it was during the time that the lake was commercially fished.
If you consider the cases of Utikima Lake, South Wabaska Lake, Brintnall Lake and Winnagami Lake. These lakes have all experienced devastating winter kills. The fish populations got so high that the lake did not have enough oxygen to last for the winter and millions of pounds of fish died. These fish were of all species and could have fed a lot of people if we had been allowed to harvest them.
As commercial fishers we would like to work with the anglers of Alberta to do what is best for everybody. On a lake like Lesser Slave Lake we need to see the anglers take more of the game fish to make it easier for us to avoid them. A big reason for the nets being set at a time where the burbot were caught is that there are far too many walleye in L.S.L. and our traditional seasons had to be changed to avoid the walleye whose population is out of control. We ask that the anglers of our province be allowed to catch more Walleye on L.S.L. but our biologists have told us that it is better to let the population starve than for them to increase the anglers quota. It makes no sense to us but as long as anglers and commercial fishers have no forum in which we can work together cooperatively we will continue to misunderstand each other and that is a shame.

I have no beef with the commercial fishermen. They have a job to do and I hope they catch as much as is allowed them. I think your point about walleye in LSL is probably the same point many of us anglers have been making about Pigeon and other lakes. F&W are haoppy to see thousands of small skinny walleye instead of bigger trophy fish. It is wierd. I can go to Pigeon and catch 100 walleye but not one is over 2.5lbs and they are super easy to catch. Additionally, they all look skinny - like they are being stunted. At least at McGregor, I can catch different sized walleye (even though it is only C&R) so I am really not sure what is going on.

Interesting note.

I noticed some years ago this interesting fact. A hunting buddy of mine was complaining that someone wasted some perfectly good meat. Shortly after in another incident someone was charged for wasting big game.

I thought to check the regs to see what the law was for fish. At the time you could catch your limit of fish and throw them in the bushes and go home. I thought this to be totally insulting to sportfishing in general.

When I mentioned this to F&W people I knew... they at first cried bull&^*, but then they looked at the regs and saw this to be true.

The regs got changed.

Mussel,

I appreciate your input. In a nutshell, you seem to be saying the reason commercial fisherman leave Burbot to rot, a gamefish with possession limits for recreational anglers, is because the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation ( FFMC) will not market these fish.

This is so simple, amend the Alberta Fish Act to make wasting Burbot illegal. Then the FFMC will have to deal with this problem. Markets for Burbot products are accessable, viable, and waiting. Marketing Burbot has been attempted, successfully, only to be closed by the FFMC Monopoly.

http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublicat...&Parl=36&Ses=1

Remember, the Alberta Fish Management Strategy prioritizes recreational angling before commercial use.

http://142.229.230.68/ManagingProgra...nservStrat.pdf

From a conservation, recreational, and commercial standpoint, it only makes sense to stop the practice of allowing Burbot to rot.

Some links for those who are interested.

Commercial fishing in Alberta
http://142.229.230.68/ManagingProgra...ent/Commercial
FishingAlberta.aspx

NWT Commercial Fishermen vote to leave FFMC, Feb.17 2010
http://www.hayriverhub.com/2010/02/f...ve-freshwater/

X2 commmon sense applies

The annual commercial walleye catch on L.S.L. is less than 10,000 kgs, or about 3% of the mortality rate on walleye released by recreational fishers. We could easily reduce this number if the regs would allow propper qutoas on the walleye for anglers. Commercial fishers do our best to avoid walleye on all of our lakes. We do not want to catch the walleye but someone has to. We hope that the regs will change to allow the sports fishers to keep at least three untill the population comes down to a level that the feed in the lake can sustain. On lakes like L.S.L. the numbers of walleye are so high that our avoidance strategies that used to be successful are now seeing a few walleye. The walleye on L.S.L. are unhealthy to the point that the majority of the females are no longer spawning. This lack of spawning females has caused our government to abandon the L.S.L. spawning beds which used to provide a large percentage of the walleye roe for the spawning program. The walleye spawning camp is now a fly-in site at Bistcho Lake in northern Alberta. This makes the program much more expensive. As commercial fishers we love success stories on our lakes and we believe that cooperation and proper lake management would see a lot more success stories.