Fish Guts Trash Vs??

[FisherPrice]

I freeze and keep them. When planting the garden in the spring I dig deep holes in the garden......then insert fish guts. Add a foot of topsoil, the plant your tomatoes. As long as they are buried deep there have been no issues with skunks or coons. Get ready for a monster garden after your done..

 

[Jwalsh]

Spring and early summer they get buried in the veggie gardens, but this time of year they usually just get tossed in the bush for the critters to fight over since i'm tired of digging such deep and wide holes to conceal ALL the guts

 

[Dunnster]

I would think as long as they are going back in the same body of water they were caught in there shouldn't be a problem with throwing them overboard.

 

[jrr]

I would think as long as they are going back in the same body of water they were caught in there shouldn't be a problem with throwing them overboard.

The problem is that nothing eats them in the water and the innards can release bacteria you don't really want released. That said, I remember when I was little the pike that would swarm around the fish cleaning station at Lac Des Milles Lac. You could toss anything in there and they would attack it. Most of them had prop scars on them but they thrived at the dock.

 

[Victor]

I'd love to see the reg where this is covered...??? Any clue where it says this? The federal regs only cover disposal at sea of fish waste from industrial processing.
Interestingly, I met a CO at the ramp two years ago and showed him my walleye fillets in a bag and he commented that it was a smart way to do it...

On page 13 of the regs it says "Do not rinse equipment or dump entrails into a lake or river." Now this is subject to interpretation; as I think it's more targeted about evasive species. In theory, if you dispose of the entrails in the originating lake, there shouldn't be a problem.

http://files.ontario.ca/environment-and-energy/fishing/2015 English Fishing Regs Licensing.pdf


P.S - I catch and release, but I vote for the freezer idea

 

[fish4fun]

Wouldn't the same "bacteria form it's innards " be released when the fish dies anyway? I gotta believe that there are lots of things in the lake that would eat the carcass up clean. I am not biologist, but I tend to agree with @Dunnster. Throwing them back into the water should not hurt anything.

 

[Victor]

Wouldn't the same "bacteria form it's innards " be released when the fish dies anyway? I gotta believe that there are lots of things in the lake that would eat the carcass up clean. I am not biologist, but I tend to agree with @Dunnster. Throwing them back into the water should not hurt anything.

@fish4fun I agree as well. I've heard of people using the remains as bait or even to chum the water.

 

[jrr]

Wouldn't the same "bacteria form it's innards " be released when the fish dies anyway? I gotta believe that there are lots of things in the lake that would eat the carcass up clean. I am not biologist, but I tend to agree with @Dunnster. Throwing them back into the water should not hurt anything.

There is the 'normal' rate that happens and then the human rate. If 30-40 boats at the elbow dumped 5 fish of guts in that one area that is way more than what would be 'normal' or what the natural system can deal with. If it overwhelms a natural system then you get a problem. 1 or 2 boats doing it isn't a big deal. Probably a dozen is ok. But all the boats in LPB on any given weekend did it there could be a huge mess/problem. Humans don't self-moderate very well.

What would make it even worse if everyone dumped them at the ramp or close to the ramp. They will end up on a nearby beach and then its someone else's problem. We see fish floating or washed up all the time. 1 or 2, ok. 100s would be a problem and looking at the cooler pics of perch... 100s or 1000s is very possible. Imagine if everyone dumped their perch guts off Hastings?

Because the natural rate of fish death floating on the surface is low there aren't enough scavengers to deal with humans.... and you would probably not be happy if there were.

 

[G.Mech]

On page 13 of the regs it says "Do not rinse equipment or dump entrails into a lake or river." Now this is subject to interpretation; as I think it's more targeted about evasive species. In theory, if you dispose of the entrails in the originating lake, there shouldn't be a problem

http://files.ontario.ca/environment-and-energy/fishing/2015 English Fishing Regs Licensing.pdf

P.S - I catch and release, but I vote for the freezer idea

No interpretation needed, that paragraph is in reference invasive species and cleaning smelt due to the live eggs mixed with the guts......

Also, the carcasses sink, they are just a skeleton and cannot possibly float again. I can't see them washing up anywhere.

As far as the freezer idea goes it works great if you don't have a lot of fish and are going home at the end of your day. If you go get a 3 man limit of eyes or perch you are looking at 50 - 70 lbs of stuff to deal with, that takes a big freezer. The other issue is when you're staying at a motel or somewhere where you simply cannot clean fish it's pretty easy to knock the fillets off when you're on the water and ice them until you get home to rib, y-bone, & skin them. I really can't see this being a big environmental issue and there are lots of creatures that pick away at the carcasses. If we never caught the fish in the first place they would still end up dead in the water at some point wouldn't they?

 

[Dutch]

if you seen the seas gulls were we perch fish you would not worry about any left overs going anywere ,,heck thy try to grab the perch right of your line ,,we have a gully at the farm that we dump all the scraps in for the coons ,thy love it Dutch

 

[Raumaster]

I drop the bag of Guts in the dumpster behind the local Plaza.. Works great