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[Blood_Orange]

Finally made it out to the TWU pond today on the way back from Abbotsford. The pond was mostly choked with weeds but I did find a couple of open spots to cast towards. Caught a bunch of small bass and one sunfish. Saw a huge carp (15+ lbs) cruise by too.

Leaving, I saw a sign that said it was a catch and release only fishery. Fine with me, I'm not keeping anything from there. Out of curiousity, I checked the regs when I got home and McMillan Lake (TWU pond) isn't listed so I suppose it's not actually C&R only. TWU is employing Minnekhada's old strategy

I kept poking around online and found an article from 2013 about how they shocked the pond and scooped out all the non-native species:
http://www.langleytimes.com/community/shock-and-awe-in-mcmillan-lake/

"A major concern is that during high water the lake overflows into the Salmon River, potentially exposing coho salmon juveniles and other native fish to marauding bass from McMillan Lake [...] Non-native fish were euthanized with an anesthetic."

So my question is why would they bother falsely advertising a C&R only fishery while simultaneously wanting to rid the pond of non-native species, as encouraged by the Ministry of Environment? Again, I don't want to keep these fish. I'm just curious if anyone knows how the TWU admin wound up with two conflicting goals for the pond.

Bonus points: The article says they caught 10 native fish. Any idea what native species would live in there? Errant coho? Nooksack dace or other random minnow?

[Tylsie]

My guess is they don't want the bucket brigade to take the fish and relocate them alive. It has happened before and will happen again. As you say, they have tried numerous times to get rid of the invasive species out of that pond with much more efficient techniques than angling and they keep coming back. At this point all they can hope for (without going nuclear) is containement

[wildmanyeah]

Bonus points: The article says they caught 10 native fish. Any idea what native species would live in there? Errant coho? Nooksack dace or other random minnow?

"The electric current temporarily stuns the fish and does not affect mammals. The team captured almost 580 fish. Of those, only 10 were native fish, including 4 coho salmon. Among the undesirables were 213 bass, 351 pumpkinseed sunfish and and 2 large carp. They were anaesthetized with carbon dioxide which is believed to be painless."

"A native Pacific lamprey"

http://salmonriver.org/?page_id=381

[Burbot]

So my question is why would they bother falsely advertising a C&R only fishery

How is it false? It is on private land, they can do what they want.

[Blood_Orange]

How is it false? It is on private land, they can do what they want.

I assumed that since the lake is in the regs book, that the regulations in the book are the only ones that apply. Is that not the case? If not, how are regulations formulated by the gov't when dealing with bodies of water on private land?

EDIT: It's not listed specifically in the regs; I was wrong about that. Are bodies of water on private land exempt from provincial regulations?

[clarki]

TWU (also my alma mater) established an Ecosystem Study Area around the university https://www.twu.ca/environmental-studies/ecosystem-study-area. They take it pretty seriously.

The university also did electroshocking in June 2014. In two nights of activity, they netted 4520 fish of which 3039 bass and 1450 pumpkinseed sunfish were euthanized. This particular event was a partnership of the university's staff and students, Langley Environmental Partners Society, Salmon River Enhancement Society, and was also supported by a Community Salmon Program grant awarded by the Pacific Salmon Foundation.

The newsletter article went on to say "Andrew Tung...also examined the stomach contents, finding as expected that the larger-sized largemouth bass consumed large numbers of smaller fish. This predatory behavior is a critical reason why we are aiming to reduce their populations to reduce their impact on native fish in the Salmon River watershed. Andrew even discovered a mole in the stomach of one large fish! The legions of fish Andrew found in the stomachs of the bass served as a good reminder as to why we are going to all this effort!"

So why is the pond posted C&R when obviously there is great interest by the university and many community partners to reduce the number of invasive fish. I don't know but I bet there is a very good reason, because it obviously isn't to protect the bass.

Although part of the reason may lay in this quote. "TWU has a special permit to remove the fish, and as part of that permit you can not sell or trade them. And you probably wouldn't want to eat them either," says Erin Stoddard, Fisheries Biologist for the Ministry of Environment.

Christopher Hall is mentioned on the contact page of the TWU EAS. I bet he could provide some clarification behind that decision.

Side note about the pond from https://www8.twu.ca/about/news/general/2008/twu-begins-invasive-species-fish-cull.html

The pond, or Trinity Lake as it is called, is not a natural body of water but was man-made years ago when TWU was first built. Used historically as a water reservoir in case of a campus fire, the pond was once much deeper and colder, and salmon entering it from the connected Salmon River flourished. Today the berm or raised edging around the pond is slowly collapsing and in one area, has collapsed completely, entirely closing off the pond to the Salmon River resulting in a pond which is higher in sediment and temperature, and has less flow to it. These changes have resulted in a perfect habitat for bass and other non-native fish species. "It's a good thing the pond is disconnected at this time but a major problem will occur in the winter when the banks of the pond overflow and invasive species enter the Salmon River ultimately destroying the salmon habitat. That is why we have to do the cull now to lessen this effect." says Hall.

[Clarki Hunter]

Any truth to sewage going in there back in the day so to speak?