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[Rodney]

If a fish is accidentally or intentionally killed when caught but not legal to be kept, then it must be left at the waters regardless. As Fish or cut bait has pointed out, if these fish were allowed to be legally kept, then it would be widely abused.

[ChromeBar]

Over the years i've probably been questioned by fish counters at least 50% of the time i go to a popular bar. Why not shell out a few more bucks and have them trained to be able to check licenses and hand out tickets... they are already on the bar all the time. Would it really be that much more to train these guys to do so?. I know fish counter to fisheries officer is a big step.. i talk to them all the time and know a few of them personally and i'm sure they would be all for It. Just a thought.

[Fish Assassin]

Their union might object on grounds they're taking jobs from their members.

[skaha]

Their union might object on grounds they're taking jobs from their members.

--not sure about fed contract but provincial.. can contract out work as long as no one on lay off...
--safety is often of concern.. fish counter is harmless thus no need to bash them on the head and most I've run into are very friendly... once they have an enforcement roll... things change..

[StillAqua]

There used to be DFO Aboriginal Fisheries Guardians around....one step below a Fish Cop (no gun), that could patrol and ticket fishing areas. It seemed to get First Nations more involved in combating poaching. But that program seems to have died with federal cutbacks. From the DFO website:

An Aboriginal Guardian is an individual hired by one or more First Nations and designated as a Fishery Guardian by the Minister pursuant to section 5 of the Fisheries Act.
While the Aboriginal Guardian Program met with considerable success in improving relations between DFO and Aboriginal people, no further training has been conducted since the late 1990’s due to difficulties in administration and funding restrictions.

[troutbreath]

Blaming the union representing the CO's is a new low in trying to resolve fish related issue's. No wonder sportfishing is in the shape it's in. Back stabby old boy back stabby.

[nosey]

If the creel survey workers were to check licences and issue tickets that would make the peace officers they would have to pack firearms, would need way more training and way more pay so you might as well put more CO's out there. This is probably part of the Liberals plan to let every body in our society police themselves thus being able to cut taxes further and increase jobs in B.C.  This plan has been working really well in the mining and logging industries and has been proved by the fact that since they were allowed to self regulate there have been far fewer pollution charges layed in B.C. hence there must be far fewer polluters. By not spending taxpayers money on leaf eating C.O.'s the government is just showing how much they trust us as outdoorsmen to look after our resources. These policies of decreasing taxes and cutting government services have been proven in other jurisdictions around the Americas, just look at what Bush did for the U.S. and right now i believe Honduras has the lowest income tax in this hemesphere just keep voting for the politicians that promise the lowest taxes and we too can become a part of the third world economy and life styles.

[skaha]

--self policing worked very well in Ontario as no violations reported in their water systems when government stopped checking them.

[roeman]

Everyone seems to want more CO's but would you be willing to pay two or three times the price for a license if it would go to enforement?  Probably not.  I would gladly pay three times the price for a license to get more CO's out there.  When they catch people in the wrong, take everything they have with them and once a year auction it off.  Does not seem that difficult to me but I guess that is why I am not running things. All it would take is for a couple of people to loose all their gear and boat, have a write up in the papers of people caught and that would slow down any future fishing violations.  Seems simple to me...

[skaha]

--we wouldn't have to pay more for our license, government should be content with taking the HST... taxted portion of the license for general revenue and use the rest of the license fee for the habitat fund and administration of specific programs related to the sport that we pay the fee to participate in.
--the license is not the only funding source..provincial  MOE and CO's and federal DFO don't just deal with sport fishing thus have a budget from general revenue as well which is supposed to support the core functions of the ministry... that is why I don't mind the government taking a fair share of the license fee in the form of HST for general revenue.