New Wild Trout Regs on Vancouver Island

**Mr T(rout bum)** · April 7th, 2011, 06:49 PM

Hey folks,

Just wondering what everyone else thinks about the new regs on Vancouver Island. The new regs state that all wild trout (including steelhead) must be released from streams. I'm sure that the anglers here at this forum all agree that this change is for the good. I don't retain fish very often anyways, especially from streams. Will this change impact any of you? Any other major reg changes of note that you have noticed?

Happy Spring!

**BCBound** · April 7th, 2011, 07:23 PM

Won't impact me at all. Since I've picked up fly fishing I haven't kept a thing. Though that's not saying much as I don't catch a whole lot either :P I think it's probably a good thing. I know that there are mixed feelings over regulatory bodies like the DFO, but I have to think ( and hope ) that the new regs are put in because they spoted some trend that needs to be addressed.

Haven't really noticed anything else that will change the way I do things.

**Coastrider** · April 7th, 2011, 09:12 PM

I think its a great idea to replenish the systems. I also never keep trout unless i have a hankering for one, maybe 1 per year

**professori** · April 10th, 2011, 06:36 PM

I agree with the sentiment, but I also think its too bad it has come to this. I like the occasional trout (more than 1 a year, too) and the only ones I really like the taste of are the ones from flowing water. Really hard to get non-muddy tasting fish from almost any lake I fish. I think again this is an indication of the sad decline in our resource.

**BC Mosaic** · April 10th, 2011, 07:07 PM

Is this a reg just for the Island or for all of BC?

**professori** · April 10th, 2011, 07:25 PM

Originally Posted by BC Mosaic

Is this a reg just for the Island or for all of BC?

Take a look here:
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/fw/fish/regulations/

**Coastrider** · April 10th, 2011, 07:54 PM

Not sure but i bet Btree may be able to answer this one for me. What is it that keeps fish, i.e. cutthroat and rainbows in the lake system? Is it just the food sources or is it the water depths? One would think the rivers would be fairly stable during all but the hottest of summer days. I agree, the lake trout sure taste different than the river fish. I always feel guilty keeping fish from a non stocked body of water

**BC Mosaic** · April 10th, 2011, 09:50 PM

Originally Posted by professori

Take a look here:
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/fw/fish/regulations/

Thanks Professori. Should have done that in the first place but I had just read two of your trout recipes (garlic & honey garlic,Mmmmm) that when I saw this posting I just had to say, "Please, say it isn't so!"
Cheers

**btree** · April 11th, 2011, 12:00 AM

Originally Posted by Coastrider

Not sure but i bet Btree may be able to answer this one for me. What is it that keeps fish, i.e. cutthroat and rainbows in the lake system? Is it just the food sources or is it the water depths? One would think the rivers would be fairly stable during all but the hottest of summer days. I agree, the lake trout sure taste different than the river fish. I always feel guilty keeping fish from a non stocked body of water

I'm not too sure there Coastrider.
Regarding rivers vs. lakes as stable habitat - both are very dynamic in terms of food sources and water quality. I also do not think that fish make rational and calculated decisions as far as where they live. It's instrict related to their genetic makeup.

All I know is that life histories are determined by genetics, and genetics is determined by habitat/natural selection. So if there are wild stocks of fish in a lake that is part of a river system, then the resident lake fish will be somewhat distinct from those that spend time in rivers. And if we add reproductively viable hatchery fish to that system, the genetics get messed up quickly, changing the life histories of the population affected.

Triploid hatchery fish from brood stock that are derived from a lake bound population (pennask stock?) will likely choose to live in the lake, or at least will be more successful living in the lake, while triploid hatchery fish from brood stock that are from rivers (thinking blackwater strain perhaps?) may be more successful in rivers, though certainly can do well in lakes as well.

Strange thing too - examples of wild steelhead populations interbreeding with wild resident rainbows are well documented, and have been deemed important in the genetic diversity of steelhead stocks. We still don't know enough about the interaction, but it seems that the genetic makeup of steelhead is not that far removed from that of the resident rainbows... but beyond that physiological changes that induce smolting and the response of the smolt to swim downstream, I dont think we know why some undergo smolting while others do not. To further complicate things, many steelhead, especially summer runs, reside in the cooler waters of lakes in the summer while they await spawning conditions, but other individuals within that same population choose to stay in the river. And some steelhead parr smolt after a year or two, while others smolt after more like 2-3 years. Strange fish.