New Regs - Central Quebec - Sea run brookies

Good news (for once).

The changes that friends were lobbying for finally came through.

2009:
On the 4 Atlantics salmon rivers which drain into the Saguenay Fjord, the limit has been UPPED to 5 per day, BUT only one can be over 14 inches (36cm). June 15th - Oct 15th.

This initiative is being implemented to try to conserve some of the BIG spawners while improving the general appreciation of the outing by anglers.

The affected rivers are:
riviere Sainte-Marguerite, riviere a Mars, Saint-Jean and Petit-Saguenay

I don't know if larger trout deliver more eggs, but they do put up a better fight. Glad to see that change.

I always figured that tall people had tall kids and big fish hatched out big fish. I don't know, but that sounds reasonable to me. Protecting big spawners seem like a good idea if you want to grow other big fishes. :)

Some of the logic.

When Sophie did her doctoral thesis here, (tagging etc) she learned that BIGGER spawners had a higer return rate. By C&R the +14 inch sea trout, we hope to get a better multiple return rate.

The egg producing capacity of the big females is also proportional to their size.

Thus, why not let males at any size be taken, ... well, in early summer, it's hard to tell 'em apart and we don't want ambiguois rules. Also ,... maybe bigger fish spawn BIGGER offspring, so we'll try. Do BIGGER fish have a really better gene pool for long term survival? ... don't know as size is really just a phenotype.

Still ... better than no protection.

On the anglers' side of things, the daily quota USED to be 3 of any size. Seeing as some of the limited rods zones are pricey, the angling experience should be better (we still have lots of C&BBQ anglers).

Sorry, I can't find any of the supporting documentation in English, ... if you want to brush up on your French, I'll post the links :-)