The Nova Scotia Sport Fishing Resource

Date: July 28th

Time: 7:00 pm

Location: Sackville Heights Community Centre, Room 206, 45 Connolly Road, Lower Sackville

Directions: Take Beaver Bank exit off Hwy 101. At intersection of Sackville Dr (landmark Kent Store) turn left (north) onto Sackville Dr. The first street on your left past the Kent Store is Connolly Road. Then take your first right and you will go through a vehicle gate where you will see the # 45 on the Building (Sackville Heights Community Center).

MapQuestion Direction: click here

Minutes -

Thanks went to Walter Regan for arranging the location of the meeting for us. Walter also suggested that we hold a fall meeting for the executive selection.

Mike Turner said he contacted some other striped bass groups via email with no response. Thought this might have been because they were not contacted by a group but rather an individual. Mike said he would email web addresses of other striped bass groups to Dave & Chris.

It was discussed that perhaps we should get our group officially up and running before trying to affiliate with other groups.

We still need a mission statement to be determined and voted upon as well as a letter head, logo, plan etc. What does our group want to do/acheive?

Some discussion was voiced that we should concentrate strictly on striped bass conservation. It was also suggested our focus should be: 1. Conservation, 2. Recreational Fishing (if there are enough numbers of fish) , 3. Commercial (if still enough fish in our lifetime).

David said he would post a form on our web page to accept nominations for executive. Then voting could take place at the next meeting.

The idea of having a guest speaker at every meeting was suggested.

It was discussed that perhaps we should have 3 meetings a year in the metro area and 1 outside the metro area. Perhaps the same day every month a meeting is held. Henry motioned to have the next meeting at the Sackville Community Center (same as this meeting) and it was seconded by Ian and followed by a unanamous nodding of heads.

There were 4 new members in attendance who all welcomed and paid a membership fee.

The next meeting date was determined to be around mid September.

Dave said it would be a good idea to get in touch with Rod Bradford and ask his permission to post the power point presentation he brought to the April 28th meeting on our web site.

Enforcement was discussed and the importance of it with the striped bass fishery.

It was determined that we would plan for a Sept 8th meeting but in the meantime volunteers could nominate themselves for exec. positions via the web site.

Intent: To here presentation from Guest speakers, Q&A, and perhaps move toward creating a structure for our pending organization

Greg gave us a little history of the conservation effort made to the fishing of shad and gasperoue in the Shubinacidi river.

Our guest speakers both indicated that the timing of our organizational efforts is imperative to the survival of sport fishing of the striped bass.

Rod and Greg said they would be using our association as a consulting resource. They will gladly listen to suggestions and amend current fishing regulation if we can justify our claims and requests.

Those attending voiced several immediate suggestions, including: limitations of certain tackle (large single hooks only) changing size of legal fish, bag limits, and introducing certain seasonal slots when the striper could not be fished.

“It is critical that we get our organization off the ground. We need structure, membership, resources, and a unified course of action to move forward.”

Special thanks to Stephen Pottie and The East Hants Sportsplex for the use of the Todd Hunter room.

Dave is currently an avid angler of various species and is a member of several Nova Scotia fishing organizations. He spent most summers as a teenager fishing Striped Bass with his father in the Annapolis Royal area with great success. Dave is a web developer and licensed Nova Scotia fishing guide who has lived in Halifax, Pictou and now Enfield. He created NovaScotiaFishing.com to promote sport fishing in the province. Dave has a strong interest in the conservation of Striped Bass and has assisted DFO on several occasions in the tagging of Striped Bass.

Asked by Dave a couple of years ago if I wanted to be involved. Limited time but able to commit some to the striped bass association. Took Biology at Dal. Started forestry. Fish avidly for most species. Grew up in Enfield around Shad & Striped Bass areas. Conservation motivation. Currently involved in many conservation initiatives and groups. Very little time for an active role.

- Suggestions from DFO personnel (biologists etc.) that an association is essential and timely.

Shubie river is the only known remaining naturally reproducing population left in the province. There used to be a population in the Annapolis river that is presumed to no longer spawn due to the construction of the causeway. Therefore NS natural bass are believed to place all their eggs in one river so to speak; the shubie system. This leaves the whole population susceptible to one tragic event on in this one system. Important to protect the habitat in the shubie.

Life History - The freshwater population returns to Grand Lake in the fall where they over winter. Migration to brackish water where the Stewiacke meets the Shubie in the spring at which point they spawn, often times in conjunction with the bloom of apple blossoms.

The saltwater population meets up with the Grand Lake fish where they spawn together. This spawning usually takes place between the Hwy 102 and the Hwy #2 bridges in Stewiacke. The eggs are extremely small and float on the surface (10% salinity) for between 2 and 5 days at which time they hatch. At this stage they are susceptible to environmental factors (water temperature, sewage, predators, etc.) which can significantly effect the surviving number. Causewway on the Annapolis was thought to have disturbed the natural water flow and bass no longer spawn.

This can result in large swings in the number of individuals in a certain year class.

DFO asseses the number of juveniles in the summer to determine how many survived and get an idea of what to expect in terms of future population numbers. Most recent evidence suggests that 1999 2000 were strong year classes whereas recent survey suggest a poor year class. This means DFO expects there to be fewer adults in the future.

5. Recent COSEWIC (Committee on the status of endangered wildlife in Canada) designation as a threatened species. This means if nothing is done to change the momentum, Striped Bass will become extinct.

6. No known natural reproduction in Nova Scotia waters other than the Shubenacadie system.

Recently the commercial shad fishermen have taken their association's issues to the media and politicians. This issue being, that their catches have significantly declined and they are catching a lot more bass than in recent history, therefore they concluded the decline is a direct result of the increased bass population. They are recommending that DFO increase the effort (commercial or recreational) to reduce the numbers of bass in the Stewiacke/Shubie system.

Recreational fishermen and commercial fishermen agree on the similar population patterns. Years ago when targeting shad we used to catch lots of shad and very few striped bass; now there's a dramatic reversal. The commercial fishermen are saying the same thing, fewer shad to catch and lots of bass. The disagreement I have with them is the reason for the decline of the shad.

Realistically, the cause for this decline is unknown and it is premature to recommend an increased harvest on Striped Bass without any scientific data to support this theory. Most often the cause of the fisheries decline is a direct result of over harvesting. I have observed a huge number of shad removed by approximately 50 drift net lisencees and 5 dip stand operators. The impact of years of potential overharvesting is more likely cause of the shad decline. In addition shad numbers have been droping throughout their range so it's premature to blame the local decline on a local predator when there's a large decline pattern.

DFO officials assure us the association is necessary to counterbalance the information provided by the commercial fishermen.

Q. Why did you attend this gathering? (Conservation reasons, Curiosity, In hopes of increasing angling opportunities, etc.)

A. Many that attended agreed with "All of the above" reasons however some others put forth were; interest level, more information, Striped Bass could be a key piece of ecosystem puzzle, education, something has to be done and someone has to do it, to help preserve the recreational fishery, to be a friend of the species and to give them a voice.

Q. What do you feel is the relative impact of the recreational fishery on Striped Bass?

A. Anglers that do not properly release have an impact. One attendee shared that they read an article stating that recreational anglers on the eastern seaboard could be responsible for up to 60% of the negative impact on Striped Bass. It was also suggested that we research into what percentage of the monetary value from sport fishing is made up of Striped Bass angling.

Q. If the Striped Bass were threatened, would you accept a change in angling regulations? Such as single barbless hook & catch and release only?

A. Possiblity of accepting changes in regulations for barbless hooks and hook sizes, and someone suggested using a tagging/reporting system similar to that of the Atlantic Salmon regulations. It was also agreed by many that more scientific data be presented on the size regulations for retension (concern that spawning fish are the ones being kept under the current size limitations). If the size limit was altered as a result of scientific proof, then many would agree with limitations.

A. Lack of Education. Commercial Fishery - targeting food bass eat, making net hole sizes larger and we need to reach out to the media to promote our side of the latest commercial fishery issues.

A. Stewiacke/Shubenacadie River System (including Shubenacadie Grand Lake), Porters Lake/Rocky Run, Minas Basin, and Annapolis Basin.

A. Many agreed that there was an obvious strong year class in 1999 - 2000 as there seem to be fewer juvenile fish being caught each year and many very close to and above the legal retension limit.

A. It was suggested that we put more thought into this and bring those thoughts to the next meeting. To clarify what a mission statement is, it is how you wish the association to be portrayed by the public and what we as a group stand for and are about. It was suggested to look into groups established in the US, and gather ideas online. One mission statement suggested was S.O.S. (Save Our Stripers).

Q. Have you ever reported illegal Striped Bass activity? If so, what was the outcome?

A. Chris VanSlyke, David Doggett, and Walter Regan are willing to consider a Director position. Ian Andrew and Rocky Jones said they would consider an executive position. Rocky also suggested first forming a Board of Directors which would then in turn select a smaller executive body. More will be discussed at the next meeting. Walter Regan was especially helpful in his knowledge of the steps we will need to take to become an association (i.e. registering at the Registry of Joint Stocks).

We need to find out from DFO how to protect Striped Bass and what actions can be taken. One question that came up was, if our association was in a position to provide manpower and funding, what could be accomplished and how?

Mike & Chris offered to collaborate on the creation of a flyer or pamphlet to raise awareness for the association. David offered to distribute these via his NovaScotiaFishing.com booth at the upcoming Atlantic Sports & R.V. Show March 17th - 20th and publish information on the web site.

Many other ideas were brought forth to be discussed in the future, such as corporate funding and additional licensing possibilities. Exploring options with the Annapolis Power Gerneration Plant and agricultural buffering zones.

$245 was raised by membership donations (will be noted as membership fees paid). These funds will be used towards the forming of the association.

It was decided that the next meeting date should be a Thursday evening in mid April TBA.

If you are interested in the Nova Scotia Striped Bass Association please click here to fill out a simple form.