Province Takes Steps To Control Spread Of Fish Disease

December 22, 2011

McGuinty Government Protects Lake Simcoe Waters

The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources is working to address a fish virus known as Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS).

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has confirmed that VHS has been detected in several species of fish from Lake Simcoe. MNR is establishing a new management zone around the Lake Simcoe watershed to address the potential spread of VHS to other inland waters and the spread of invasive species to Lake Simcoe.

As a result, commercial bait operators will be prohibited from moving commercial baitfish into or out of the new Lake Simcoe Management Zone beginning January 1st 2012. Anglers are asked to buy baitfish when they arrive to fish in the Lake Simcoe area and not take baitfish out of the area. read more...

The Angler Diary Program continues for 2010/2011
The objectives for the diary program are to engage anglers and obtain advanced information and alert us to changes in angler success and other fish community patterns. This important information will be used to help improve and evaluate fisheries management on Lake Simcoe.

For further information on how to return a diary or to participate, read the full Press Release - Click Here - Acrobat PDF (40 KB)

View a sample diary page, reprinted from page 36 of the 2010 Lake Simcoe - Lake Couchiching edition - PDF VIEW HERE

The LSFSC has a companion page in the 2010 booklet - PDF Version VIEW HERE

Mandate:
The Lake Simcoe Fisheries Stakeholder Committee was established by the MNR in June 2007 and includes representatives from well known stakeholder organizations ranging from individual ice hut operators to local environmental organizations. The Committee provides advice and recommendations to the Midhurst and Aurora District managers of the MNR on the management of the fisheries resources of Lake Simcoe, Lake Couchiching and their watersheds. The Committee also takes an active role in promoting fisheries stewardship within the watershed to improve the health of its fish community.

What we do:
The LSFSC encourages the responsive gathering and evaluation of the fisheries information on Lake Simcoe to proactively review and recommend directions in fish stocking, harvest rates, fishing seasons, and angling opportunities and methods.
As an example, the reported increase of natural lake trout by anglers prompted the committee to create and distribute a volunteer Anglers Diary aimed at recording the catch and origin of an angler’s creel. This timely and unique information source will be used to help evaluate fisheries management in Lake Simcoe.
In response to the recent reappearance of the lake herring (cisco), an information poster and card outlining identification keys between herring and whitefish was created and widely distributed - see facing page. The committee is currently reviewing the sustainability of resurrecting a herring fishery in Lake Simcoe.

Click to open the PDF version of this Poster

We want anglers to be informed so this poster may be distributed online. If you post this information on your website, please e-mail us to inform the committee where it can be found. Thank you.
charlie@luresandtours.com
wil.wegman@ontario.ca

The committee prepared the identification card and a poster for distribution in time for the 2008/2009 ice fishing season. Illustrations and text describe how to compare the Cisco herring to a Whitefish. The design was a collaboration of Charles Ross of Lures & Tours for the composition and graphics, and Wil Wegman for providing the text. The poster and card were approved at the June 2008 meeting of the committee.