Catch a Tagged Trout and Win $100!
Posted on May 3rd 2013, by Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC
Tagged fish in BC lakes will net licensed anglers a $100 reward from the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
Coinciding with its 10th anniversary, the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC is launching a new province-wide research project that requires the help of anglers – in return for rewards totalling more than $15,000.
Beginning this month and continuing through fall 2013, the FFSBC is marking approximately 300 of its catchable size, hatchery-raised rainbow trout with individually numbered neon-pink tags bearing a toll-free number. The trout will be released into 40 fishing lakes around the province. Anglers who catch one of these tagged fish are asked to remove the tag and call the toll-free number. Provided they have a current BC fishing licence and any required stamps, the FFSBC will send the first 150 "tag reporters" a $100 reward. Subsequent tag reporters will receive gift certificates of various values for fishing supplies.
The specific locations of the tagged fish releases are not being revealed, but the FFSBC confirms that fish will be released into multiple stocked lakes in each of the province's eight fishing regions, including the Lower Mainland.
"We need the help of BC anglers to conduct this research, and it's only fair to reward them for their efforts," says FFSBC Vice President, Science, Adrian Clarke. "The data gathered will help us continue to improve the province's small lakes fisheries."
The tagging project will add essential information to an ongoing, multi-year, large scale research study - funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation and FFSBC - that partners FFSBC with Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, University of Calgary, University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University. The study uses the rainbow trout fishery of British Columbia as an experimental system. With its mix of about 800 hatchery stocked lakes and over 3,000 wild stock lakes, fishing quality can be easily manipulated without raising conservation concerns.
Data gathered from the tagging project will provide stock assessment information and assist in the management of the provincial stocking program.
The FFSBC was created in 2003 as a private, not-for-profit organization, funded largely through freshwater fishing licence revenues. The Society works in partnership with Provincial fisheries managers to deliver fish stocking programs that support 50 per cent of all fishing in B.C. lakes, delivering between 6 and 8 million fish annually. It also operates conservation fish culture services for sturgeon recovery programs, and various initiatives to enhance participation and access, such as Learn to Fish and Fishing in the City. Through these programs, the FFSBC is working to ensure BC has the most accessible, enjoyable and sustainable freshwater fishing in North America.
For more information about this projects and other programs at the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC, please visit their official website.
