Perch Possession Limits! Please read

[quinner01]

There was a time Quinn when there was no limit on Perch in Ontario, probably before you were born. 2 green garbage bags of Perch could be had in Atherly in a few hours. If there was please correct me, if there was we were young kids that were ignorant of the regs. I don't even know if regs were published in the 50's.

Probably very true. I believe the green garbage bag statement applied to every species back then though, it was the norm. At least from all the stories you hear.

I can only assume they have just as much anglers and angling pressure, so the possession fact surprised me for sure, especially because perch are rather easy to catch.

 

[Bruce Graham]

There were no limits on perch until about the late 80s or early 90s. It was also legal to sell perch in the days before limits. I am in favour of proper management of the fish resources so don,t get me wrong and I catch a lot, but have never sold fish. I think we need to make our voice heard or before we know it our share will shrink . Everyone has heard of the squeaky wheel, the commercial guys are much better organized and have a much louder squeak than sports fisherman. I plan to contact my mpp and make my views know, would suggest the rest of you do the same

 

[Bucketsoff]

There were no limits on perch until about the late 80s or early 90s. It was also legal to sell perch in the days before limits. I am in favour of proper management of the fish resources so don,t get me wrong and I catch a lot, but have never sold fish. I think we need to make our voice heard or before we know it our share will shrink . Everyone has heard of the squeaky wheel, the commercial guys are much better organized and have a much louder squeak than sports fisherman. I plan to contact my mpp and make my views know, would suggest the rest of you do the same

Therein lies the rub though, most people have expressed no interest in raising the limit. Most are pretty happy with what they get, it forces you to rotate your stock, keep it fresh and not waste. Some have even said they would be fine seeing it go down.

 

[Bassassin]

Bruce what will be the crux of your contact be to your MPP?

Do you want to raise the limit, lower it, reduce commercial guys quotas?

A single voice can't be heard, our best voice is through OFAH. However the guys at OFAH have infighting between the hunters and anglers as to where best spend their time and resources. I was involved 10 years back with them and found a stronger hunting agenda than fishing. That can be frustrating.

Not to blow my own horn but does anyone remember when the feds put up NO FISHING signs on all federally operated docks? They took them down, I led the charge to have them taken down. It was through lobbying through OFHA and giving a comprehensive argument to the MP as to why NO FISHING can effect everything from local commerce to youth crime. I got the local business owners in Dover involved as well as the top dog OPP chief in Haldimand Norfolk behind us.

 

[Devin]

that is erroneous because the water is much different over there, there is much more structure on the bottom, attracts more fish and easier to targer. Locating and catching fish is simply more difficult on our big, sandy bottom bowl. And besides, admitting that there is more angling pressure, pointing to higher limits and saying that is the reason why there is more fish is the definition of illogical.

Bucketsoff:

Where did I say that was "the reason" they have more fish, I just commented that their fishery is better. I would say that "the reason" its better is because they don't have a commercial fishery over there.

 

[Big Dave]

Ohio does have a commercial fishery


"Ohio gets a larger share of Lake Erie's walleye, while the Ontario commercial industry gets a larger chunk of the yellow perch harvest. This year, Ontario was allocated about 5.969 million pounds of yellow perch, while Ohio's quota for sport and commercial fishermen was 4.895 million

BD

 

[G.Mech]

Here is a link to the Annual Report from the Lake Erie Yellow Perch Task Group which has every stat, quota, catch rates etc for the entire Lake and also broken down by zone. There is some interesting facts and figures to read and some numbers that may surprise you. For example, the total allowable catch for Lake Erie last year was 13.6 Million lbs yet only 10.7 million lbs were atually harvested. This trend is typical for previous years too. The commercial guys are not even filling their quotas but I have no idea why.....

http://www.glfc.org/lakecom/lec/YPTG_docs/annual_reports/YPTG_report_2013.pdf

 

[Devin]

Dave:

Do you know what the percentage of sport versus commercial is? If I remember correctly the sport quota was bigger, or at least it use to be. Be interesting to know how they calculate the sport take here in Ontario as well??

 

[Devin]

Just read this!

According to Cooper, commercial fishermen in Ontario caught 90% of their walleye allocation and 100% of their perch allocation in 2012.
The total value of the Lake Erie commercial fishery in Ontario last year was $31.8 million. This is up 14% – $4 million – over 2011.
Nearly 15 species of fish comprise the Lake Erie commercial fishery. A total of 25.8 million pounds of fish were caught by Ontario commercial fishermen last year. This is up 19% – or 4 million pounds – over the harvest in 2011.

25.8 Million pounds???

And we are all poachers if we have 51 perch???

http://www.delhinewsrecord.com/2013/03/28/fishing-quotas-cut-for-yellow-perch-pickerel

 

[G.Mech]

Dave:

Do you know what the percentage of sport versus commercial is? If I remember correctly the sport quota was bigger, or at least it use to be. Be interesting to know how they calculate the sport take here in Ontario as well??

You can dig that info out of the report if you have lots of time on your hands but it is a tiny fraction of the commercial harvest. What I don't understand is why the commercial fishermen get upset when the quota (Total Allowable Catch) is reduced yet they are not harvesting the full amount anyway...???... Is the demand for fish less than the quota or what??

 

[Bucketsoff]

I totally agree with Dave about Ohio, I hate to admit it but the Americans are better at managing the Lake Erie fish stocks then we are. I use to fish Ohio all the time and could never figure out why we have possession limits and they don't. They have way more fishing pressure (angler) then we do and yet the fishery is always better on their side as far as numbers go (the exception being Hastings).

I am assuming that you made this statement before you knew there was commercial fishing on the American side, but it is the sentences in italics that related the lack of possession limits and higher angling pressure to better numbers on the American side. Now that I know you were misinformed about the commercial issue, I get what you were trying to say.

 

[bigvenison]

Correct me if I'm wrong but there is NO gill netting on the US side of L Erie so that all non target fish are released to swim another day

 

[mick]

Hey fellow fisherman, don't ya think the gill netting finally needs to stop on this side of Lake Erie? Fish stocks would definately rebound to where they should be and sport fisherman would be the best management tool to keep the resource healthy and plentiful by imposing no limits on catching and keeping fish. It would not be necessary. The americans bought out there commercial fishing gill netters years ago and it has had an extremely positive effect for the lake and the people that use it. What good does a gill net do on lake erie anyway? Gill nets kill everything that swims into it. If you would like to see fish stocks rebound back to where there was no limit on perch then stop the gill nets now before it is to late. But then how do we stop or change one of the most corrupt governments in the world. I know a few dummies that voted for um so listen up. Again my solution would be to move Ottawa to Quebec and oust harper. No I am not interested in running in the next election. Yes the suffering will continue due to government greed! Can anyone on here answer when will the corruption and bleeding will stop?
,

 

[Bucketsoff]

Hey fellow fisherman, don't ya think the gill netting finally needs to stop on this side of Lake Erie? Fish stocks would definately rebound to where they should be and sport fisherman would be the best management tool to keep the resource healthy and plentiful by imposing no limits on catching and keeping fish. It would not be necessary. The americans bought out there commercial fishing gill netters years ago and it has had an extremely positive effect for the lake and the people that use it. What good does a gill net do on lake erie anyway? Gill nets kill everything that swims into it. If you would like to see fish stocks rebound back to where there was no limit on perch then stop the gill nets now before it is to late. But then how do we stop or change one of the most corrupt governments in the world. I know a few dummies that voted for um so listen up. Again my solution would be to move Ottawa to Quebec and oust harper. No I am not interested in running in the next election. Yes the suffering will continue due to government greed! Can anyone on here answer when will the corruption and bleeding will stop?
,

I think fish stocks are just fine in Erie. I think that wishing the end of gill netting so you can catch and keep as many as you want is foolish, childish and selfish. I think 50 perch possession per person is just fine and dandy for the average family. Fish stocks are not down. Fishing is as good as it's been in a long time. I seem to remember there being limits on fish, and government and business being in bed under the Liberal government as well.
The last thing Canada needs is to let Quebec make decisions for the whole country. They only care about Quebec.
And one last thing...
Suffering, corruption and greed? Go visit Africa my friend. You need some perspective. Most people on this board have the time and the means to fish recreationally. This ain't wartime Poland. Give your head a shake.

 

[Bassassin]

Some Canucks don't know how great we have it here because they haven't traveled farther than the casino in Niagara Falls NY. Visit Armenia, Bosnia, China, I guess I can list a country for every letter in the alphabet where you can be shot for saying something the government says you can't.

Was there something about fishing here? Oh yea gill netting. I'll take you to a fourth generation fishermans place in Dover and you tell him he shouldn't be able to practice the trade he was born into, I guess he can hone up on his computer skills and work in some office in TO. Wait, that job is for the kid that spent 4 years in University to learn, and he can't get a good paying job, and no you can't blame that on Harper, Ottawa is a long way from Wall Street and D.C., so I guess the fisherman will just have to bite the bullet and get on the dole or maybe grow some herbal medicine. Now being on welfare, that's really contributing to our corrupt governments deficit.

Mick, come on man!

 

[Devin]

Whatsthepoint:

Are you trying to tell me your 4th generation friend and none of his crew collects welfare when the fishing season is closed?

 

[Bucketsoff]

Whatsthepoint:

Are you trying to tell me your 4th generation friend and none of his crew collects welfare when the fishing season is closed?

That would be EI, not welfare my friend...something I bet you'd be collecting if your job was idle for a period of time as well...

 

[Devin]

This topic is suppose to be about possession limits, not commercial fisherman or EI versus Welfare.

I'll stand by my 1st statement that I don't think there should be any possession limit for any bodies of water in Ontario.

 

[Bassassin]

Whatsthepoint:

Are you trying to tell me your 4th generation friend and none of his crew collects welfare when the fishing season is closed?

Is unemployment considered welfare? If so yes, but no more than an ironworker, boilermaker or any other trade in todays economic climate.

 

[Bucketsoff]

This topic is suppose to be about possession limits, not commercial fisherman or EI versus Welfare.

I'll stand by my 1st statement that I don't think there should be any possession limit for any bodies of water in Ontario.

You brought up welfare, and also the misguided opinion that there is no commercial fishing on the American side.
You can stand by you original statement. No one will fault you for that. But if you bring up other factors in the discussion, then get challenged on them, you cannot turn around and shoot down the very thing you brought up in the first place.