Rules and Regulations
Culling in Ontario
Ontario was the birthplace for bass tournaments in Canada. Way back in the late 1960's Joe Izumi, father of Bob Izumi - Canada's top fishing personality, held the first Canadian bass tournament on Lake Erie in Blenheim, Ontario. A decade later and the competitive bass fishing event craze began to really grow across the province. Anglers would head out in a myriad of bass boats with portable and or built-in livewells and try to catch the five or six heaviest bass possible. Just like today, they would begin with a limit of any bass over 12 inches and upgrade from there... "Culling" became a widespread practice and accepted vocabulary among the tournament industry and competitive anglers alike. But did you know that an antiquated glitch in the old fishing regulations technically made it illegal to cull once you reached your legal limit? Yes, even though there was nowhere in the regs that used the word culling, nor that said it was illegal to cull, it was apparently still theoretically not permitted. Although in over 35 years of Ontario tournaments there has never a case of someone actually being charged with culling, organizations like the Ontario BASS Federation Nation, the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters and the Canadian Sportfishing Industry Association wanted the glitch fixed. With a realization from a biological standpoint that there was never any basis for serious concern about culling during a bass tournament, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR), with the guidance of the above groups went about fixing a wrong in time for the 2008 bass season.
What was Wrong with the Old Legislation?
Immediate catch and release itself had long been accepted as a legal way to keep fishing over and above your daily limit. Most tournaments would even have a five bass limit - one under the legal six, so that at any one time while anglers were in the act of culling, they would not be over. The problem however stemmed from the actual Ontario Fishing Regulations that stated once a limit has been achieved that a fish which has been retained cannot be unretained. The basis for this legislation originally came about to curtail an unethical practice called stringer sorting whereby anglers would keep a limit of fish on a stringer for the day and if they got a fish bigger than their smallest, they would release it and keep the bigger one. Naturally this practice accounted for many dead fish in Ontario lakes.
Tournament anglers and the industry who knew about this regulation reasoned that comparing bass culled from a fully functioning livewell to those culled from a stringer, was like comparing apples to oranges. As Conservation Director for the OBFN, I began to push for recognition of the fact that bass temporarily held in a livewell during a tournament were merely ‘detained' with the clear intent that they would be live released after the tournament. Conversely the intent of fish held on a stringer was also clear.... they were destined to be eaten afterwards. After considerable discussions the OMNR and the partners mentioned above came up with special livewell legislation to deal with the issue as outlined below: Page 9 of the 2008/09 Recreational Fishing Regulations Summary: A Change to Ontario's Catch and Retain Rules Generally, daily catch limits include all fish that are retained for any period of time and not immediately released "Anglers fishing from a boat may now catch and retain, and selectively live release, more walleye, northern pike, largemouth or smallmouth bass than the daily limit, provided:
(a) the fish are held alive in a livewell with a mechanical aerator operating at all times,
(b) the fish comply with any applicable size limits,
(c) the sport or conservation fishing licence daily catch and retain limits for walleye or northern pike are not exceeded at any one time,
(d) no more than six largemouth or smallmouth bass (or any combination) caught under a sport fishing licence are retained at any one time, and
(e) the conservation fishing licence catch and retain limits for largemouth and smallmouth bass (or any combination) are not exceeded at any one time. Anglers are reminded to closely monitor the condition of fish held in a livewell. Only fish that are in such a condition that they will survive may be released (see Tips on Live Release of Fish, page 10).
Releasing a fish that will not survive and allowing the flesh of that fish to be wasted is an offence. Any fish not live-released are part of your daily catch and retain limit". It wasn't perfect ... but at least we could now come out of the closet and openly cull in 2008 without fear of reprimand.
Other Important Notes On Ontario's Bass Regulations:
In 2007 southern and central Ontario opened their bass season on the 4th Saturday in June. For decades prior it was the last Saturday in June. Last year we could begin fishing a week earlier than usual because there were five Saturdays in June. This year we only have four, so we're back to the status quo. You cannot fish for bass during the closed season ... even if your intent is to immediately live release them. Vast areas of northern and north western Ontario continue to have year round open seasons with lower limits then the south (six) and size restrictions before their traditional July 1st bass opener. Be sure to check the 2008/09 Recreational Fishing Regulations Summary for specific details. In some areas like Georgian Bay that have lower bass limits (three with a sport licence) than the rest of southern and central Ontario, the new live well legislation means that traditional five bass limits for tournaments (team or individual) are now permissible again.
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources site:
http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/MNR/fishing/gen.html
Ministry Summary of Regulation by Zone: