Heads up, anglers!
Nova Scotia is expanding a catch-and-kill order for chain pickerel and smallmouth bass in an effort to curb the spread of these invasive fish.
Starting April 1, the Department of Fisheries & Aquaculture is requiring all chain pickerel and smallmouth bass in select waterways to be humanely euthanized if caught.
These regulations build on a pilot program launched last September. Previously, the mandatory retention order was relegated to a handful of waterways, including the eastern branch of the East River in Pictou County and the Margaree watershed on the western side of Cape Breton Island.
“Our highest priority is protecting remaining native populations of brook trout and Atlantic salmon,” says Jason LeBlanc, the director of the Inland Fisheries Division with the Nova Scotia Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture. “This builds on a sweep of regulatory options to try to prevent further harm to native species.”
Smallmouth bass, chain pickerel disrupting ecosystems
Chain pickerel is known to be a voracious predator that outcompetes and dominates ecosystems, leading native species to be severely diminished or even eliminated. “They affect overall biodiversity,” says LeBlanc.
While smallmouth bass don’t necessarily cause the same detrimental effects, they still take their seat at the top of the food chain and change the ecosystem.
“The negative impacts can be quite drastic and are, more often than not, irreversible,” says LeBlanc. “It goes beyond just fish and fisheries to broader biological and ecological impacts.”
If you’re caught tossing one of these species back into a prohibited waterway by an enforcement officer, you’ll face a $180 fine for violating your sportfishing license. Introducing invasive species into a waterway carries heftier fines of $100,000 on the first offence and up to $500,000 on the second.
Local angling association ‘fully supports’ new measures
Smallmouth bass were originally introduced to N.S. waterways in 1942 by the government to boost the sportfishing industry. Chain pickerel are believed to have been illegally brought in just a few years later.
This regulatory expansion comes as a relief to local anglers who have watched native fish populations become overrun by the aquatic invasive species over the years.
“The concern is predation against all of the small fish, including small trout and salmon,” says Paul MacNeil, the president of the Margaree Salmon Association. “We strongly support this change.”
The association has been navigating the presence of smallmouth bass populations throughout the Margaree watershed for the past three years. MacNeil says the species was introduced to Lake Ainslie—one of the larger waterways in the system and a hot spot for trout sportfishing—about 15 years ago.
“Things have already changed in Lake Ainslie, we just don’t want to see this happen in the main river system,” says MacNeil.
Under the regulations, smallmouth bass caught in all waters east of Highway 102 from its junction with Highway 104, to Highway 118 to Highway 107 to Highway 328 (Ross Road) near Upper Lawrencetown, as well as the west branch of the LaHave River, upstream from the confluence with the main branch, including all lakes and tributaries, must be euthanized.
Unlike chain pickerel, the mandatory retention for smallmouth bass is not province-wide. Rather, the province hopes that by upholding current management boundaries can help prevent the species from migrating east.
“We’re trying to protect sportfishing in the province,” says LeBlanc.
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the Margaree watershed was in western Nova Scotia.
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