Quinte Fishing

Saturday November 16, 2002
BILL THOMPSON
RECORD STAFF


A communications assistant to Ontario Natural Resources Minister Gerry Ouellette announced last month at Queen's Park that the ministry would be releasing measures to better conserve the walleye fishery in the Bay of Quinte.
Gord Prisco wouldn't divulge any specific aspects of the plan. Nor would he say when it would be announced.

Prisco's lack of specifics and a time table wasn't surprising. His initial announcement was.

First of all, the ministry really doesn't have a handle on the bay's walleye fishery. While Prisco stated that the ''number one priority is to ensure the longevity of the species remains,'' the ministry honestly doesn't even know how many walleye call the bay home. Or if it does, the numbers are embarrassingly high and they are sitting on them.

According to the ministry's Lake Ontario Report for 2000, there were roughly 160,000 breeding walleye in the bay. The 2001 report hasn't been released yet, even though they were supposed to have been in March of this year.

Why not?

I believe it's because the number is actually closer to 500,000 and will eventually prove embarrassing for the ministry after it cried wolf over the 2000 numbers.

Bad news indeed, especially when the 2000 numbers were the reason the ministry leaked the news that they were considering a three-year moratorium on walleye fishing in the bay due in large measure to the politically sensitive issue of illegal harvesting of walleye by aboriginals.

After a public outcry earlier this year, the ministry backed off from the moratorium and instead announced slot limits to protect the threatened $10 million fishing and tourism industry.

In reality, the ministry has done nothing about the problem for months.

''I'm fed up with this,'' said Kendall Dewey, chairman of Citizens Against The Walleye Moratorium. ''It's ridiculous the length of time that has gone by and absolutely nothing has happened.''

Dewey's disgust is justified. The ministry had pledged to select an advisory committee in the spring of this year to begin a long-term solution. However, it doesn't exist yet.

Further, the illegal commercial walleye fishery still exists. Worse yet, the fish that are being sold put the health of women and children at risk because of the contamination level.

No charges have been laid and you can bet that someone in the attorney general's office or the ministry has told conservation officers to turn the other way when they see an aboriginal with a gill net. Unfortunately, this hands-off policy has non-natives getting into the illegal netting as well.

When I confronted Ouellette with the issue, he seemed genuinely concerned. In the end, he realizes that the walleye issue is festering because of the ministry's lack of action and failure to communicate. In defence of the minister however, he only took office last April, after the advisory committee was to be selected and the 2001 report released.

''I now have the names that were recommended for the advisory committee and barring any unforeseen problems, the committee will be selected as soon as possible,'' Ouellette said.

''I have also instructed my staff to release the overdue 2001 Lake Ontario Report so both the ministry and the public are aware of the status of the bay's walleye population.''

Asked if anyone in the provincial government had instructed conservation officers not to lay charges against aboriginals who are illegally gill-netting walleye, Ouellette said that he was not aware of any such directive.

Believe me, the directive exists. And I can't blame conservation officers for staying tight-lipped about it. Embarrassed government bureaucrats can be nasty, especially if they're your employer.

Yes, Mr. Ouellette, appoint the advisory committee and release the 2001 walleye numbers this year, embarrassing or not. Then lock yourself in a room with the attorney general and the Bay of Quinte Mohawks and don't come out until the illegal netting problem is resolved once and for all. Then, and only then, can you get on with a long-term fisheries plan for the bay.

[url][url]bthompson@therecord.com[/url][quote][/quote][/url]

I can't wait to see if those speculative numbers are correct. Then that fat grey haired idiot who chaired the moratorium meetings and claims their research is " good science" can bite me.