Stop commercial fishing on Lake McGregor

[muddywaters]

Ladies and Gentlemen anglers,

I have started a petition to stop the commercial fishing of whitefish on Lake McGregor. I was shocked to see the numbers on commercial fishing in this province. The benefit of the few at the expence of the many would sum it up. If you are interested in supporting this petition, please sign it at:

www.ipetitions.com/petition/lake-mcgregor

I think that together we can change it and if it work here mayve we can take it to other lakes too. Your support is paramount.

Cheers,
mddywaters

[nicemustang]

Commerical fishing has been around just as long as angling. How can you petition against one and not the other? For the anglers benefit? I'm sure there are a lot of people who making a living off of the commerical fishing in AB...so you'd like me to support a cause that will end up in people losing their jobs? For what?

Any other groups backing you and what happens when you get xxx many signatures?

[weedcatcher]

From the 2010 Regs:

McGregor Lake Reservoir – Walleye limit 0; Pike limit 3 over 63 cm

so, do the commercial fishers have to follow these same rules? Or do they get to keep Pike of any size? How about Walleye? The fish that don't meet the size limit, or are the wrong species, do they get safely released? Or do they get to keep anything that gets into their net?

[muddywaters]

Sorry you seem upset, mustang. It is not my intent to put you out of a job. Having said that, if one looks at the numbers it becomes pretty clear that anglers are shortchanged. Not only commercial fishing takes a huge chunk at McGregor. It does it at the time of the year when the whitefish spawn. The roe makes it all the way to Japan. Lucrative for the commercial fisherman, not so much for the anglers next year.

[muddywaters]

Good question weedcatcher. On this year's fishing trip, my buddies told me they saw them packing everything. Personally I didn't see that so I can't say for sure.

[aulrich]

I do not know how it is run here but I understand the whitefish fishery on dore lake SK has a bi catch limit as well and if they hit the bi-catch limit the season is shut down even if the whitefish limit has not been hit.

There should be plenty of space for a properly run commercial whitefish fishery.

Hey maybe they need to increase the whitefish take to make room in the bio-mass for pike and walleye. you need to remember any lake can only hold so many pounds of fish. it cannot hold an infinite amount of fish.

I also know some of the fishers at Dore they ain't exactly swimming in money, and I too would not take their lively hood away, too much of that crap happening as it is.

[weedcatcher]

Originally Posted by muddywaters

Good question weedcatcher. On this year's fishing trip, my buddies told me they saw them packing everything. Personally I didn't see that so I can't say for sure.

If we, as anglers, aren't able to keep any Walleye because the numbers are too low, then I'd be REALLY ANGRY if the commercial guys can keep any they may catch. Same with Pike under 63 cm. If we're trying to keep the populations healthy, then why are just the anglers limited? We should all be on similar ground. If they can keep Walley, then I should be allowed to as well!

If they reduce the Lake Whitefish numbers a bit, then I don't mind, so that there's more space for the Walleye and Pike. But they're just turning around and destroying those populations of those fish, while we're not allowed to keep any, then that is WRONG! BOOO!

[Gust]

When they net the whitefish, the method they use does catch but not many walleye and pike as one would think,,, and when F&W are monitoring a netting, it's very very strict. The anglers bring money down the way of Vulcan and Milo and Lomond,,, most of the commercial guys are locals/farmers, they know the value of the sportsmen to the community and are not intent on destroying the fishery.

Was at MacGregor today and all the snow has melted off the lake with the chinook, The ice is 3 inches thicker than it was 6 days ago. With no snow insulating and a decent cold snap, the ice should be safely driveable by New Years.

[weedcatcher]

Originally Posted by GustavMahler

When they net the whitefish, the method they use does catch but not many walleye and pike as one would think,,, and when F&W are monitoring a netting, it's very very strict. The anglers bring money down the way of Vulcan and Milo and Lomond,,, most of the commercial guys are locals/farmers, they know the value of the sportsmen to the community and are not intent on destroying the fishery.

Was at MacGregor today and all the snow has melted off the lake with the chinook, The ice is 3 inches thicker than it was 6 days ago. With no snow insulating and a decent cold snap, the ice should be safely driveable by New Years.

So Walleye and Pike are netted [but not as many as we would think], and when the Fish Cops are watching, its strict. Hmmmm. Your post does not inspire much confidence. Sounds to me like the commercial fishermen get to keep Walleye and undersized pike, when we anglers can't. BOOOO!

[weedcatcher]

BTW, I did sign the petition, and I hope many others do as well.

[Buck Krazy]

I am definately signing it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Darren57]

Signed it. Only takes 1 minute. There is a spot to write comments as well, but i dont think you have too. Ice fishing is one of the only things to look forwad to about winter. It makes the misserable cold seem like a good thing at times and for many outdoor enthusiasts it makes winter much more easy to endure. I have to agree with muddywaters about the few Vs. the many. One pound of fish caught on my hook is worth more to me than the commercial value could ever be. I think most people on this site would agree.

Thanks to muddywaters for taking the time to start the petition.

[nicemustang]

I'm not against the petition, just is two sides to the story. The AB SRD is supposed to be managing the amount of fish that come out, so hopefully if they do that there doesn't have to be a ban on commerical fishing.

[Winch101]

These licences were granted when the number of sport anglers in Alberta
was negligible relative to the numbers today .

This commercial fishing by part time fisherman is archaic and ridiculous ..

It is the same right across the west ...all of these licences should be revoked and let nature take its course ...

Overpopulation can be handled by increased limits and expanded seasons ...

The depression is over ...W101

[whitetail Junkie]

If Lakes in alberta were'nt commercial fished to harvest vast whitefish Number's,there would be less Game fish in alberta due to the Fact that the whitefish would eat all the Game Fish Eggs.A Biologists from the alberta Government told me that Face to Face,as I was Showing him the 11 pound whitefish that my uncle and I Caught in our Nets at Murray Lake.

[HappySonny]

I have signed too.

[pikester]

To be honest I really don't see the point or value of commercial fishing on our local lakes. I have never bought a whitefish from a store nor do I know anyone who has. I don't have any facts or figures on how commercial fishing is impacting most of the lakes where it is allowed but I do have a pretty good realisation of what it's doing to Lake Newell & it's not good! As I have posted before in other threads I have been fishing Newell pretty consistantly for something like 7 years now & it's changed noticably since I started.

The first 2 or 3 seasons me & my fishing buddies would have 20 fish days almost everytime we went with several of those fish in the 8-10lb range & always a couple in the 15-20lb range. In the late fall we would see huge schools of whitefish near the bays & off the rock points on the southeast corner of the lake from Jackfish Bay up to the cottages. It was wild because many days we would even catch big pike on our crankbaits that had the tails of 12"-16" long whities sticking out of their mouths! I should mention that collectively we might have kept a dozen pike in all those trips over those years & only 2 of those fish were trophy fish; we just love catching big gators

Now, especially in the last 2 seasons we have seen hardly any whitefish at all & definitely no big schools like we used to see on the sonar or surface feeding. An averge day for us now might be 5-12 pike averaging 3 to 5 lbs & only 1 or 2 of those fish were in the 8-12 lb range. Only 3 fish in that time frame were in the 15-20+lb range. There are still trophy pike in Newell to be sure but they seem to be more difficult to find & are more scattered through the lake. I have to believe that the numbers of trophy sized pike have dwindled as well. Unless there is some disease that has rampaged through the whitefish populations that no one is talking about then commercial netting is the only other answer. Healthy whitefish populations are vital for the pike to grow to trophy status especially in that lake. I believe that if the netting continues the opportunity for everyday anglers to catch trophy sized pike in the next five to ten years will be a pipe dream on that lake. That is a complete travesty because Newell could easily rival or exceed the quality of most of the northern trophy lakes to produce really big fish if it was properly managed.

I understand that there are people who make a living who would be affected by reducing commercial netting to only a few of the really big lakes that can realistically handle some commercial pressure but this may be one of those situations where the needs & wishes of the many (especially since we as sportfishermen contribute financially on a massive scale provincially) should outway the needs & wishes of the few. People have a habit of being extremely intelligent & resillient & I have no doubt that these people will find some other way to generate an income just like everyone else has had to do when they lose their job just as I have in the past. I have no doubt that the same situation has or is occuring on the other commercially fished reservoirs inthe south so I will be signing the petition.

[gor]

commercial fishing is on a quota system
allowed 5000 lb white
1000lb pike
200lb walleye
if you catch your 200lb walleye first you are shut down.
this
keeps them after the whites, not a big loss for most fisherman.
also stops white from eating spawn eggs.
not sure how many pounds of each type is allowed per lake
but this is how it works

[cujo1969]

Last years quotas on mcgregor were 90500kg whitefish, 1390kg pike, 555 kg walleye
newel same whitefish 90500kg walleye 900kg pike 3400kg.

[clarki]

there's an assumption being made that there is catch and release only on walleyes in MacG because there arent enough to sustain a harvest by anglers. This just isnt so, there is a healthy population of walleyes in MacG as there is in all the other reservoirs down south. MacG has always had great numbers and quality of walleyes as long as I've been fishing there (about 20 years now). When there was a salvage fishery before the work on the causeway at the south end we caugt and kept plenty of em. Each winter I manage double digit numbers of 'eyes out of the same hole in the same day. They usually range in size from 18-26 inches. my .02 cents worth

later

M

[whitetail Junkie]

Originally Posted by cujo1969

Last years quotas on mcgregor were 90500kg whitefish, 1390kg pike, 555 kg walleye
newel same whitefish 90500kg walleye 900kg pike 3400kg.

You Bet,The nets are designed to catch whitefish,however you cant help it when the game Fish are caught aswell.by law every fish you catch in your nets you have to keep no matter how small or if it's still alive you cant throw it back.there is alot of times that my uncle has live pike and walleye in his nets that he wants to throw back but cant because its against the law and the F&W officers are at the lake when its commerical fished.

6 years ago the walleye qouta for Rattlesnake lake was caught after the first day,all the fisherman had to pull there nets and go home 4 days early,the obviously lost money at that lake because the walleye quoata was caught.furthere the alberta government didnt commercial fish that lake for 3 years after that one Fall.

[Winch101]

English not being my first language , I understand that it is sometimes a poor one . This commercial fishing is just another example of the pork
barrel politics in this province .
I am sure the average sport angler who doesnt have relatives who are netting believes that when the govt says " NO Walleyes " they mean no walleyes not if you give us more money , then you can have walleyes .

So dont tell me I cant do something than allow one of your barrel mates to do this . Thats the dictator in this social democracy we enjoy .
Pretty well any biologist particularly working for the province , I have met is bent over that barrel pretty bad. Hardly unbiased info.

So this story has been on here a few times . And " pro " netters dont get it .

" US " rank and file abide by the govts latest insanity regs hate it when
netters are taking our fish ( taxpaying citizens ) .Especially when they are likely going to fertilizer or dump fill...

I hope that clears this up, NETTING of any kind will never be OK
in sport fishing waters . So sign that petition , it cant hurt ...
though Mel is likely going back to his job at the car lot after the next election .

W101

[aulrich]

I guess if we follow that logic what lakes do you want to close to sport fishing so it does not interfere with the commercial fishery.

[weedcatcher]

There should be a ballot issued to each person who has a fishing licence. There should be a vote on a Lake - by - Lake basis, voting on whether to ban commercial fishing, or ban sportfishing on each lake in the province.
It would just need to be a big list of the lakes, and 2 boxes beside each lake, which you check off as to which you would like to ban: commercail or sport.
Each person's vote, whether commercial or sport, is counted as 1 vote only.

I wonder how that vote would go? Hmmm.

See how the commercail fishers are in the minority, but taking the VAST majority of the fish?

[wildman]

how about ban commercial fishing in ALBERTA!!!!!!!!
what kind of sense is it to have ZERO LIMITS on the majority of lakes and still let NETS in these same waters....
its a huge bag of bullsh!t!!
and very typical of alberta fisheries....
you drive for hours to maybe keep a walleye and find a net at every point???
serious problems....

[James Henry]

I just signed.............

[pikester]

Originally Posted by aulrich

I guess if we follow that logic what lakes do you want to close to sport fishing so it does not interfere with the commercial fishery.

That's kind of along the lines of what I would like to see happen; not a total ban but a small, specific list of lakes based on hectare/volume size where this could occur with a negligable impact on stocks. The other solution to alow commercial netting to continue on southern reservoirs would be to have a rolling, alternating allotment on a lake by lake basis wherein no lake could be commercially fished 2 years in a row & maybe a minimum of 3 to 4 years between harvests allowed on each lake. This is loosely based on a similar idea as crop rotation I suppose lol.

I believe a rotation system would not only benefit the commercial guys by being able to harvest from a lake which has had 3 or 4 years for the whitefish populations to flourish but also benefit the anglers by having at least 3 years of commercial free fishing to not have to contend with. Finally this would benefit the lake itself by allowing the whitefish population to recover enough to provide the needed sustanenance for the predator species while the intermittent netting would temporarily reduce the whitefish numbers so they don't impact the other fishes through egg predation.

I don't hate commercial netters & am not out to make their lives miserable but I don't think the way the fishery is managed now has the best interest of the sportfisherman in mind. Like has been menioned in other posts, the legislation in place regarding commercial netting is based on decades old thought processes & came about in a time when sportfishing liscence volume & revenue were insignificant. Lets all work together & make it good for everyone.

Signing a petition for a total ban might seem too harsh & overkill initially but it's only a step to bring recognition to this situation, to get people talking about it. This will bring compromise & concession eventually. That's how negotiations work; one side asks for too much, the other side demands the complete opposite, then eventually a compromise gets settled on that's somewhere in the middle!

[nicemustang]

A lot of good points here guys. I signed the petition.

[Dakota369]

Originally Posted by weedcatcher

So Walleye and Pike are netted [but not as many as we would think], and when the Fish Cops are watching, its strict. Hmmmm. Your post does not inspire much confidence. Sounds to me like the commercial fishermen get to keep Walleye and undersized pike, when we anglers can't. BOOOO!

Simply put, yes the commercial anglers do keep walleye and pike, regardless of size when they catch them. It is considered an incidental catch.The nets they use are very well designed and they get far more whites then anything else. I know fishermen at Slave, and in reality they would rather not catch the eye's and pike. Sooooooo go ahead and get mad but it is not going to change anything. Did not sign the petition as I believe the commercial fishing industry in Alberta is better and closer managed them most industries........like say the oil industry maybe??

[aulrich]

Given they have a sustainable tonnage (granted that is a big if) I would rather see the tonnage spread over the years than the lake getting clobbered 2 out of every 4. Because what could happen is you get a bad spawn conditions the years after the big haul you could colapse the lake if the main forage fish has major drops.


Also markets would be esier to maintain with a smaller but constant supply. the reason you don't see Alberta whitefish in stupidstore is they want to run a special next Tuesday they want 50,000 lbs for all of western Canada, they support nothing local, except maybe beef and grain but that's another story.

I agree harvest need to be sustainable, bi catch needs to be minimized, but give me a natural fisher over fish farms all the way.