gill nets found in kingston

Post by **getnjiggywithit** » Tue May 29, 2007 7:32 am

Unfortunetly as far as the MNR is concerned, anything the Natives do is considered legal

and they will not get involved. The markers had no identification on them at all! They were just old motor oil and coolant jugs with no labels on them at all

Normally when comercial fishing they are suppose to be at least 2kms from shore. As far as I'm concerned setting up a net across the mouth of a creek is not acceptable Either way most of them have been destroyed and if they get reset again they will be destroyed again! The locals have had enough.

Post by **Rescue78** » Tue May 29, 2007 4:20 pm

Mr. T. wrote:
Rescue78 wrote:I talked to an MNR enforcement officer today. He said they inspected the nets. They are hoop nets, registered and legal.
Registered and legal to who?

Commercial. He also said that they are identified. I am unsure how or where commercial nets are to be tagged. He said there was nothing irregular with the nets. I am not sure if he had read this thread, but he suggested leaving them alone, stating that even just lifting them is a violation.

Just reporting what he said, not necessarilly agreeing with the practice.

Post by **Doug** » Tue May 29, 2007 9:46 pm

I saw a gill net set on the Bay of Quinte a few years back. It was the first week of walleye season, and we were catching the odd walleye for the frying pan. Just downstream from where we were staying there was a honkin' big set of floats (old oil jugs etc), and we had the opportunity to see the net(s) being lifted by a couple lads who appeared to be the owners of the net(s). I am not sure if it was one net or several, but there was a lot of material. The "FISHERMEN" aka rapists tossed many hundreds of fish back in the water, took not very many from what we could see, and re-set the net(s). After they were gone we went over to look: there were hundreds of small perch and walleye, many of them well into decomposition, floating in the water where the netters had just been. No doubt it was an illegal 2" mesh net, and no doubt in my mind it was an unregulated Tyendinaga set-up. It still pee pee me off to think of this act of rape.

I do not know who has licences, or more likely who has PERMISSION, without needing to buy a licence, around Kingston. Tyendinaga is a fair piece from here, so I am doubting that it is the Tyendinaga Mohawks in this case.

Anyways, HYPOTHETICALLY SPEAKING, it is a stupid idea to cut nets from their floats/buoys. All that happens is they catch a bunch of fish, sink, then float again when the carcasses decompose, then catch a bunch of fish, sink, then float again when the carcasses decompose, etc etc. In other words, nylon gill nets left unattended and unfloated can keep on killing for a very long time.

But pulling the nets out and disposing of them, while probably illegal, would not allow them to continue to kill fish indiscriminately.

Gill nets are kill nets. Unattended hoop nets are not a heck of a lot better.

Doug

Post by **getnjiggywithit** » Wed May 30, 2007 7:49 am

Rescue78 wrote:
Mr. T. wrote:
Rescue78 wrote:I talked to an MNR enforcement officer today. He said they inspected the nets. They are hoop nets, registered and legal.
Registered and legal to who?

Commercial. He also said that they are identified. I am unsure how or where commercial nets are to be tagged. He said there was nothing irregular with the nets. I am not sure if he had read this thread, but he suggested leaving them alone, stating that even just lifting them is a violation.

Just reporting what he said, not necessarilly agreeing with the practice.

Thanks for the update I can't beleive this is legal

All I can say is that I'm rapidly loosing respect for the MNR

commercial fishing in small creeks... what's next... commercial harvesting of freshly stocked trout in small trout lakes

I wouldn't be surprised if this erupts in violence as the locals are very upset!

Post by **troutnmuskiehunter** » Wed May 30, 2007 4:00 pm

The O.F.A.H. has contacted MNR which resulted in me receiving a phone call from the Lake Ontario Enforcement Unit this afternoon. The Enforcement Officer informed me that this is the first report that they have been made aware of regarding this particular issue.....the threads in this forum (which have been forwarded to L.O.E.U office) seem to indicate that MNR has been contacted which is very contradicting to his response. He would like to get the GPS waypoints of the area in question in order to personally check the situation out. I have copied the e-mail I received from the EO and I urge you guys that may have useful information such as GPS coordinates to contact him directly!!!

Thank you for you help and concern for our resources.

As Conservation Officers, we really appreciate any information we can get regarding the abuse or misuse of our resources. Resource users in the field have much more opportunity and therefore more ability to witness such events. Any and all information is welcome. If we can provide help, advice, or assistance we will, but we also need the same in return to be able to address the issues we are all hearing about.

I can tell from our conversation that you are aware there is a big difference in just talking about things that "should be done" or "could be done" and actually doing something about it. Quite often confusion or misinformation leads to more of the same, and in some cases acting on misinformation can lead to undesirable results for all parties involved.

I understand that it is often difficult or intimidating for people, whatever the reason may be, to contact Conservations Officers and speak freely with them. I am telling you now that you can call me anytime with any information and I will do everything I can to address your concerns, answer questions or help in anyway I can.

24 hour toll free TIPS line: 1-877-TIPS-MNR (1-877-847-7667)

Edwin VanDenOetelaar
Conservation Officer

Lake Ontario Enforcement Unit

Edwin.VanDenOetelaar@Ontario.ca

Desk: 613-476-2499

Fax: 613-476-3754[/color]

Post by **Moosebunk** » Wed May 30, 2007 4:15 pm

I've been known to pull a few nets from the water. Wouldn't reccommend that where you are as repercussions could come in other ways.

Post by **almontefisher** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 11:12 am

So if this guy is saying no-one was contacted then who went to check these nets and say they were legal...was it the guys with the nets pretending to be CO's???

Post by **troutnmuskiehunter** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 11:30 am

Exactly my point!! WHO and WHEN...if at all...What MNR office..who was the investigating CO?? None of this was posted in this forum other than "they checked it out"...

The O.F.A.H. and myself have been informed that we will receive an update from the Lake Ontario Enforcement Unit once they have concluded this investigation...I will post their reply once received...

FISH ON!!!!

Post by **Rescue78** » Sat Jun 02, 2007 9:54 pm

Trouthunter wrote:Exactly my point!! WHO and WHEN...if at all...What MNR office..who was the investigating CO?? None of this was posted in this forum other than "they checked it out"...

The O.F.A.H. and myself have been informed that we will receive an update from the Lake Ontario Enforcement Unit once they have concluded this investigation...I will post their reply once received...

FISH ON!!!!

???????

Where are we going with this?

I did call the MNR tip line. I did not post it here untill I heard back from them just in case the culprits were lurkers on the site, and therefore became aware that MNR was investigating. I sent PM's to most of you to inform you I did it.. By the sound of the last two posts, my integrity is being questionned here. People are doubting MNR was contacted at all, people suggest the CO was the culprits pretending to be a CO.

Maybe I was not clear enough. When I called the TipLine, they asked me the nature of the complaint, type of violation, description of the nets, street name, geographical location, possible description of boat or vehicle in the area when the nets where lifted, etc... etc... A few days later, I received a phone call from a CO from the Kingston Enforcement office. Their office is 1.5KM away from the nets. He identified himself as the CO investigating my complaint. He said nets had been inspected and found to be legal hoop nets, registered, with nothing irregular about them (meaning location, dead fish in them etc...).

This thread was given as a refference when I called the tip line. They must have looked it up because he advised me to post something to calm down the few people that were threatning to damage the material, saying that they could be in trouble.

I did not question him, ask his badge number or ask the details of his investigation techniques. He is in a position of authority, knows the law more then I do, so I thanked him for looking into it and went on with my very busy day. If further investigation reveales that he was wrong, then so be it.

I do not agree with the practice of using nets in the mouth of a creek, but I did my part to denounce it and got what I thought was an acceptable answer from a reliable source. I don't think anyone here is in a position of questioning my integrity.

With respect.

Post by **getnjiggywithit** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 8:27 am

Rescue78 I don't think anyone was questioning your integrity... I personally called and complaned 4 times before even posting it here on FH but did it anonymously... I also know that atleast 3 differant people who shorefish that same place regularly who called also! I feel the same as you I can't believe this is legal! But just because some lazy butt CO said its legal still doesn't make it right ! I'm going to take some pics of the nets... You know a pic is worth a thousand words...

Post by **troutnmuskiehunter** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 9:24 am

The reply wasn't aimed at you Rescue78, but more at the MNR if they are monitoring this post...Hoop traps are indeed legal, but there may be more to this then meets the eye....fish shouldn't die in hoop traps...they are like big oversized minnow traps...

Getnjiggywithit, I think pics are a great idea, and particularly pics of what you and I discussed in the last PM you sent me regarding the setup..

Post by **almontefisher** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 8:52 am

As everyone said Rescue..just wondering about the work done by them not by you...You did everything you could do in this situation. No one is blaming you for poor calling and doing the right thing. Just the intent of the CO's etc.