Local anglers saw gill net fishers tossing dead fish back into lake Nipissing. Photos courtesy Tony Aultman.
When Tony Aultman saw more than 50 seagulls squawking and flying in circles around a boat on Lake Nipissing Saturday he became curious.
What he saw, made him angry.
He and his son-in-law were in a live release pike derby about three miles northwest of the government dock when they saw the birds circling a boat with two men in it throwing dead fish back into the lake.
"They were pulling a net in but they were firing all the fish back into the lake, they were too ripe to keep. Every seagull had a pickerel....all 15, 16 inches. They all had their own fish, they weren't fighting but they were eating well.
Aultman says it was a small boat, with no numbers and the men quickly hauled the gill net into their boat and headed towards the government dock.
"They were in a hurry too once they saw us coming at them. They were getting out of Dodge. They knew we were taking pictures of them. They were a little nervous I think," Aultman added.
"I came from the Manitous, then fished in Duchesney Creek by the Mother house and back north up the shore."
That's when they saw the seagulls.
"It's just depressing for us as fishermen, you know. They (MNR) keep on cutting us down. There's a whole bunch of us that are getting a little fed up of all this waste. The waste is the main thing.
"They are not just targeting pickerel, they're killing all the other fish too.
"We still want to go out and catch our dinner too. We spend a lot of money to go fishing, but it gets depressing. We catch two (pickerel) and we're fine with that. From six to four to two---now it's really bad. I don't even keep the big ones now because I've thrown them back for 20 years because they don't taste that good. Now, what do we fish for?"
Aultman left a phone message with the MNR and a number to call, but three days later had not heard a thing.
In response, the MNR told BayToday that "Mr. Aultman has been contacted by the Area Enforcement Manager. The delay in responding was because his voicemail was left for an officer who has been away from the office. He has now been provided with the Area Enforcement Manager’s contact information as well as the TIPS and CrimeStopper lines for future reference. Tips are addressed on a priority basis."
