The province is looking to put permanent closures on rivers and streams on Vancouver Island that are south of Campbell River.
Stephen MacIver, with policy and regulation for the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations said there are often closures on the rivers when the weather gets hot in July and August and the fish get stressed.
He said making those closures permanent would be less confusing for anglers who often rely on what is in the Fishing Synopsis and sometimes don’t pay attention to closures that happen during the season.
“The problem is when those waters get hot, temperatures increase and the water flow decreases. The risk of a fish being caught and released and dying increases. That post-release mortality is higher in higher temperatures. Conservation is our number one priority and that’s why this particular regulation is being proposed.”
MacIver said rivers that would be exempt from the closures include those where there are measures in place to manage the water flow.
Anyone who wants to make a comment on the proposed change to the fishing regulations has to do so before Friday.
