IceShanty.com's Ice Fishing Community
Canada => Ice Fishing Saskatchewan => Topic started by: AngusMacHuge on Oct 30, 2014, 12:20 PM
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Interesting read here:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/girl-3-can-legally-fish-saskatchewan-judge-rules-1.2818238 (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/girl-3-can-legally-fish-saskatchewan-judge-rules-1.2818238)
I was actually fishing a hundred feet away from the guy who got ticketed that day. I'd heard second hand reports of people being warned and told to pull up lines being used by young children, but after seeing this I skimmed the fisheries act and angling guide for the details on this regulation. I found absolutely no mention of any requirement for kids to be able to fish lines independently in the act or the anglers guide. Good ruling by the judge, and an unfortunate mis-step by the CO that day.
Some (most?) provinces stipulate that fish caught by a child under free licences apply to the limit of the licensed adult fishing with them. Sask. has no regulations around this. So, while I'm happy the ticket was thrown out because I have young kids who are interested in fishing, I'd prefer to not see this ruling abused by people who just want to harvest more fish. Sounds like the regulations could use a bit of improvement in this area.
Go fishing with your kids, give them a line if they ask and take it out as soon as they lose interest. Teach them the importance of catch and release while they're at it. They'll have kids of their own some day, make sure there's still plenty of fish when that day comes.
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:thumbsup: :clap:
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For once, justice prevails!! Good ruling!! :thumbsup: :icefish:
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I'm all for taking kids fishing, but definitely need the law changed here in Sask so that your childrens' catch is on your limit. All too often I see a parent setting up lines (in both ice and water) with the only intent being to haul home as many limits as possible. For instance, this guy and his toddler could legally have taken 8 walleye, 10 pike, 50 perch, 16 burbot, and 16 whitefish (2 limits of each species) from Turtle Lake. I very much doubt this father's reason for having 2 holes for his child was to teach his 3-year old the joys of ice fishing.
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I'm glad the father was taking his daughter fishing but I'd like to know the CO's side of the story. I've seen on numerous occasion where fathers bring their kids out fishing but the kids never fish. At the end of the day the dad has kept his limit plus the children's. Not sure if this was the case here since I can't see a CO watching one group of fishermen all day to determind who's fishing and who isn't. I've taken my friends with their little ones between the ages of 3-4 any they just wanted to watch movies or play on their father's iphone. Not going to say who's right and who's wrong since I only read a news article and that's the only knowledge I have of this event. but I agree with Nightbird that its unethical using your children to increase your possesion limit.
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If they can catch them without help, parents have the right to keep their limit of their kids fish. Just my thought.
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I think general reductions in limits are the most appropriate solution to over harvest. Counting fish towards that of a parent's limit sounds appealing on the surface but not hard to imagine scenarios where this becomes limiting or hard to enforce. For instance what if a child's parents are not licensed anglers, does that mean the child can't legally fish even though they're capable of doing so? What's the magical age cut off where a child can be seen as capable of landing a fish? If you go by capability alone rather than age how does the CO assess this in the field? How does the CO verify that fish sitting on the ice were caught by children without assistance?
I think the bigger issue is the correct enforcement of existing regulations. CO's have the power of seizure, and that gentleman had two of his tip-ups taken that day. Imagine yourself in that situation and maybe the CO was in a bad mood and took a bunch your ice fishing gear. It cost this guy a day in court to argue a bogus charge and almost 8 month to get his gear back. I think it's just a reminder to everyone to familiarize yourself with the regs. CO's have a hard job, and while the vast majority of the time they'll make the right call, it doesn't hurt to stay informed.
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I'm glad the father was taking his daughter fishing but I'd like to know the CO's side of the story. I've seen on numerous occasion where fathers bring their kids out fishing but the kids never fish. At the end of the day the dad has kept his limit plus the children's. Not sure if this was the case here since I can't see a CO watching one group of fishermen all day to determind who's fishing and who isn't. I've taken my friends with their little ones between the ages of 3-4 any they just wanted to watch movies or play on their father's iphone. Not going to say who's right and who's wrong since I only read a news article and that's the only knowledge I have of this event. but I agree with Nightbird that its unethical using your children to increase your possesion limit.
I totally agree with this comment, I do not put much into any form of media! iPhones in ice shacks result in expensive lights in the bottom of the lake! Lol