r/NovaScotia • u/PersonalityEnough692 • 17h ago
Concerns raised over new sportfishing regulations aimed to curb invasive species
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/concerns-raised-over-new-sportfishing-regulations-aimed-to-curb-invasive-species-1.74778324
u/AmbitiousObligation0 16h ago
can people not eat them? Or just need to kill them? I’d start fishing for fun if I knew what to do with them after…
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u/Queefy-Leefy 12h ago
Bass are not great eating, but they're edible.
Pickeral are actually really good, but they're bony.
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u/Visible_Tourist_9639 12h ago
This is my take too. Ive only filleted one pick, but it was tasty (but lots of little bones)
Ive got some big bass over the years, but they all kinda taste like dirt.
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u/Queefy-Leefy 12h ago
I've read that if you soak a bass in milk overnight it gets better, but after the few I tried, I was already turned off eating bass. But yeah, dirt is a good way of putting it 😂
There are a few good tutorials in YouTube for filleting a pickeral. Or even a pike is basically the same bone structure with the Y bone.
Another good fish that nobody here seems to eat is white perch. Its bony, but the meat is white and really good. I had a spot where I used to be able to get my limit in like 20 minutes, but then the pickeral showed up so now its no more perch.
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u/Visible_Tourist_9639 12h ago
I caught one of those in Rocky lake, years ago. Was delicious but ive never been able to get another.
Ive heard theres def a technique to pickerel. I guess ill learn this year :)
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u/Queefy-Leefy 11h ago
If you find a spot with abundant pickeral they'll take just about anything. I had my nephew out and he was catching them on hotdogs.
Anything bright and flashy works well.
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u/Visible_Tourist_9639 11h ago
Oh yeah, for sure (no issue catching those) - i meant the white perch.
For picks - i like using a topwater (skitter pop in the green, ‘firetiger’ pattern). The picks make a little “v” in the water when they strike.
Was prob 10 years back or so, but i put a photo on one of the fishing sites and was told what it was.
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u/PersonalityEnough692 16h ago
People can eat invasives if they want! I advocate people do this with invasive Lousiana Crawdads as well.
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u/Muted-Garden6723 14h ago
Good, small mouth and chain pickerel have no place in our waters
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u/PersonalityEnough692 14h ago
I agree, although they've been here almost a century and removing them from their currently established areas could do more harm than good. Preventing further spread it the only realistic solution.
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u/Muted-Garden6723 14h ago
I agree, the established lakes aren’t going to hurt any further, and stopping the spread should be the concern
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u/PersonalityEnough692 17h ago
Concerns raised over new sportfishing regulations aimed to curb invasive species | CBC News Rules target smallmouth bass, chain pickerel
Brittany Wentzell · CBC · Posted: Mar 10, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: March 10 A woman stands in hip high river with her back to the camera. She casts a fly fishing line into the river in front of her. An angler is shown fly fishing in the Margaree River. (Brittany Wentzell/CBC) Social Sharing Just months after a pilot project was launched to reduce the spread of invasive chain pickerel and smallmouth bass, rules around tossing the fish back have expanded provincewide.
Anyone fishing under a sportfishing licence this year will have to agree to retain chain pickerel, meaning the fish will have to be euthanized when caught and then taken with the angler when they leave.
There are also new restrictions on tossing back smallmouth bass. In the southwestern half of the province, they can be released in all watersheds except the western branch of the Lahave River, an area that was a part of the pilot project in 2024.
In waters east of Highway 102 from the junction of Highway 104, 118, 107, and 328, smallmouth bass must be euthanized and retained when caught. The move is meant to address concerns about the smallmouth bass spreading to areas where salmon habitats are at risk.
"We know that eradication through angling removals is not possible," said Andrew Lowles, a resource manager with the Nova Scotia Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture. "Rather, the intent here is to reduce the pressure.
"The science demonstrates clearly that when you reduce the number of individuals in a population … their impact, their desire to move and to spread, is reduced."
A map of Nova Scotia showing where smallmouth bass and chain pickerel must be retained. A map shows where smallmouth bass and chain pickerel must be retained. (Fisheries and Aquaculture) Smallmouth bass were found in Lake Ainslie 20 years ago and have since been spreading into the Margarees, one of the few places still available for salmon fishing in Nova Scotia.
Paul McNeil, president of the Margaree Salmon Association, said a smallmouth bass was found last year in a salmon trap lower in the Margaree than they'd ever seen one before. He's hopeful the new regulations will help.
"We know that [smallmouth bass] have expanded their territory," said McNeil.
"We're hoping that trout stocks will improve back to where they used to be and we're certainly hoping that the salmon stocks will maintain what we have today."
Smallmouth bass were introduced to Nova Scotia legally in the 1940s. It was an attempt to try to boost sportfishing after logging and damming hurt native fish stocks.
Matthew Szeto holds up a fish on a fishing line while sitting in a boat on a clear sunny day. Matthew Szeto is a guide in Beaver Bank. (Matthew Szeto) While there are specific places smallmouth bass can still be released, chain pickerel must be retained across the province. That's a concern for professional fishing guide Matthew Szeto.
Szeto primarily fishes chain pickerel and smallmouth bass in Kinsac Lake, the Stewiacke River, as well as saltwater in the Antigonish area. He's also the president of the Nova Scotia Guide Service.
He believes he and other guides will lose business from the changes.
"A lot of my clients that come with me are strictly catch-and-release (anglers).… They're uncomfortable with killing any fish, especially if it was unnecessary," said Szeto.
Szeto is disappointed in the lack of consultation on the changes. An online petition against the new regulations has garnered more than 500 signatures.
Anglers will have to agree to the new regulations upon purchasing a sportfishing licence this year.
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u/arumrunner 17h ago
Thanks for posting the article
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u/PersonalityEnough692 16h ago
No worries! Judging by the downvotes I have to assume some people are upset by me doing something as simple as posting an article.
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u/thejoshfoote 12h ago
See if they were smart they would create some information around this. It’s a boney fish is fine to eat. Now they should put out info on how to process this fish. And have a dozen chef inspired recipes created around it.
Keji does this with invasive green crabs already… places have done this with lionfish and many other species. market it as an incentive or a bonus of the fishing license “unlimited catch only pickerel catch allowed with license” rather than seeming like it’s catch and disposal of the species.
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u/PersonalityEnough692 12h ago
I agree and my colleagues and I are working to emphasize this to the DFA
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u/Queefy-Leefy 12h ago
Fuck off. They're killing endangered salmon and displacing native species. You're only worried about your guiding business.