Posession limits and fishing different bodies of water

[OldTimer]

(02-26-2014 12:16 PM)MuskieBait Wrote:  The MNR clearly defines your possession limit.

"The possession limit is the number you are allowed to have in your possession on hand, in cold storage, in transit or anywhere. Possession limits are the same as one day's catch limit except where otherwise specified."

It is a conundrum when it comes to roving anglers who may fish northern lakes where possession limit of C - 6 or S -12 Lake Whitefish are allowed, while the same angler may fish on Lake Simcoe where C - 1 and S - 2 Lake Whitefish is allowed. In that respect, when the angler with a Conservation License fishes on Lake Simcoe the weekend after a successful trip to a northern lake with 6 Whitefish in his freezer or car, he is essentially over his limit.

In that respect, I expected that the angler may still be able to fish for Lake Simcoe's Lake Whitefish on a catch and release basis, but he is not allowed to retain any additional fish. It is similar to the scenario where an angler had already reached his catch/possession on Lake Simcoe but he can continue to fish on catch and releases basis on Lake Simcoe.

Here's another similar issue. On Lake Ontario, you are allowed a sport limit of 1 Atlantic Salmon if the fish was caught while trolling in the lake. If you retain one Atlantic Salmon from the lake, puts it in the freezer, and fish any of the Lake Ontario tributaries (where possession limit of Atlantic Salmon = 0), is that illegal? I would say it is not illegal, but you would have to prove to the CO that you have indeed caught the Atlantic Salmon from Lake Ontario.

For most part, unless the MNR suspects you of blatant catch and possession violations, they will not check your freezer for possession limit compliance (which is kind of sad actually). However, it is reasonable that they could check your car for your catch and it would be very difficult to prove your story.

It is probably better to be under the limit most of the time anyways. Not only does it avoid these ambiguity, it is also better for your health anyways. You cannot simply consume 6 whitefish within a month without reaching your consumption allowance if you follow the consumption guide. Having a whitefish sit in the freezer for months would simply spoil the quality of the fish. If you dispose of a poor quality fish, you are essentially wasting resources which is a violation in its own right as well.

Don't forget that the "general" possession limits can be larger than "zone" limits as seen in the regs:

   

These higher limits would support some storage (at home) of multiple zone limit catches across several outings or more.

Cheers,

OldTimer