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[milo]

Is it legal to cut the head off the fish at the river?

[DionJL]

No

[Every Day]

Such a pain to keep the head and tail on.... 

[DionJL]

Page 11 of the Freshwater fishing synopsis.

Leave the head, tail and all fins on
your catch until you get them to your
permanent (ordinary) residence.

[DionJL]

Here ye be.

[DionJL]

Ghost Fish, those regulations are for Salmon (or Fin Fish) fishing in salt water, but Milo asked about fishing rivers.

[bbronswyk2000]

Ghost fish is correct as long as its over the size limit with the head removed it can be done. Tail is left on for identification.

[Rodney]

ACTUALLY! I just found it, nothing about salt or fresh water.

It's a sportfish packaging guideline for tidal waters.

[DionJL]

Thanks for the back up Rod.

[milo]

Thanks, Rodney and Dion.
That's what I thought, but wasn't 100% sure.

Frankly, I don't see why the saltwater packaging rule wouldn't apply to salmon in the rivers.
The heads could sure add more nutrients to the system.
But the law is the law and it's to be obeyed.

Cheers,

Milo

[DionJL]

Little bit. But I did find the site you posted before I made my post.  Then after your post I started thinking along Milo's line of thought; "Why would tidal salmon be different from non-tidal"

[CustomRetrieval]

Cutting the head off is legal:
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/fw/fish/regulations/#Saltwater

Salmon and Saltwater Fishing
Freshwater Salmon Regulations

The management of salmon fisheries in B.C., in both tidal and freshwater, is the responsibility of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). Unlike previous years, DFO's regulations for salmon fishing in freshwater are not included in this Synopsis. This year, for conservation and fisheries management reasons, this information will be published by DFO in a supplement to this Synopsis, which will be available where you purchase your licence, or at any DFO office.

Barbless hooks are required for salmon fishing in all freshwater, as well as all tidal waters in B.C.

Please note that when freshwaters are closed to fishing or have gear restrictions outlined in this Synopsis, these regulations apply to salmon as well as to non-salmon species.

For information on all the salmon regulations,
please contact the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO)

Updated freshwater salmon regulations are listed in the Freshwater Salmon Supplement( http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/recfish/KeyPoints/packaging_e.htm ). as well as information on salmon identification and packaging salmon for transport.

[Rodney]

That's correct CustomRetrieval. It was my initial thought that it would also apply to freshwater salmon. I decided to generalize a bit as Milo asked about fish in rivers, not just salmon. This is a huge problem by having two different levels of government managing fish in this country.

I can almost bet on that if a provincial conservation officer encounters an angler with a headless salmon in the river, the angler will be given a hard time or even fined because the provincial conservation officer is only trained with provincial freshwater regulations.

[milo]

Thanks, CustomRetrieval!
It seems Bobo and Ghostfish were right from the very beginning.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I will start cutting those heads off now and tossing them to the river along with the guts and trimmings. Many river dwellers will thank me for it.

Note: make sure the headless fish equals or exceeds the minimum size limit.

[CustomRetrieval]

To add to the jurisdiction confusion, is a Steelhead a salmon as far as the prov/dfo is concerned? Can you legally cut a steelheads head off riverside?