The enforcement wing of DFO has had to spread out its resources because of the expanded recreational fishery this year, but it says it has found a high degree of compliance from those looking to put some food on the table.
Ottawa expanded the fishery to seven days a week for most of the province, but not the south, southwest and west coasts where it held it to three days.
Albert Grandy, an enforcement officer with the department, doesn’t have numbers but says there has been a high level of participation.
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“We’ve had some violations relating to exceeding the daily bag limit of five fish per person per day, we have had to deal with the issue of recreationally-caught fish being sold, traded or bartered, which is illegal as it’s for personal use only, and we have had violations of processing fish at sea, and the retention of prohibited species.”
It unnerves him when he sees someone on the water not wearing a personal flotation device, but he has seen it many times this summer including one situation in which there were six people in the boat – none with a life jacket.
This is the last weekend of the recreational fishery.
