THE NEXT GENERAL MEETING, REMEMBER THE DATE: THURSDAY FEBRUARY 5TH, 7:30 PM, AT THE CLUB HOUSE, LINCOLN PARK ROAD, IN DERBY TOWNSHIP.

The speaker for the February general meeting was not finalized at press time, so plan to attend and find out who Grant has lined up.

New Members!!
The S.S.A. welcomes the following new members:

• Paul Duncan Adult
• Kris Koevoct Student
• Jeffery Thompson Adult
• Chris Cherry Family

DATES AND OTHER THINGS TO REMEMBER!
 

Another Early Bird Membership Winner Added to the List

At our January Membership meeting Don Borland won the BBQ in a free draw made by M N R biologist Dave Reid. Congratulations, Don. Good things happen when you pay your dues early!

THE PRESIDENT'S CORNER

Laws relating to conservation of fish and wildlife are of considerable interest to sportsmen. One might ask why we have such laws, and what are the different types of laws? Generally, such laws are divided into four, often overlapping, categories. These are: biological, safety, social and administrative.

Bag and creel limits are to ensure that the harvest will not endanger fish and wildlife populations (biological) .As well, these limits help to ensure that there is reasonably fair sharing of the resource (social).

Jacklighting is forbidden because of the danger of hitting unseen persons or property in the dark (safety) .As well, this practice could result in wildlife population decimation because of the ease with which animals, blinded and transfixed by bright light, can be taken (biological).

Trespassing to hunt or fish is mainly a social prohibition, hut in some instances, may have safety or biological effects.

Hunting and fishing access in southern Ontario is a major problem for sportsmen. Trespass laws designed to protect landowners' wishes may do just that (social) , but also, this can aid in overpopulation of wildlife (biological) , and can be a cause of property damage (social) because hunting opportunities are legally curtailed,
e.g., Canada geese and deer depredation.

Licenses to hunt or fish are revenue gatherers that make money for government (administrative) , provide funding for fish and wildlife programs (biological) and demonstrate, in the case of hunters-, that the holder has a certain level of training in safe gun handling and survival (safety) , wildlife identification and habitat requirements (biological) , and hunter ethics and landowner relations (social).

The "fail to produce license" charge is an excellent example of an administrative law. It may seem like a really "chicken" law, but there is an excellent reason for having this on the books. For example, an on-lake check of anglers can reveal that many do not have licenses on their person. Most say that they have forgotten their licenses. Simply put, the conservation officer does not have the time to go to the residences or vehicles of everyone to check out every license, so he writes a ticket for "fail to produce license".

There are a lot of game and fish laws, and as well, there are many changes and additions to these laws. Sportsmen, for their own protection, should be made aware of the changes. For example, the out-of-court settlements for fisheries offences have taken a big jump, e.g., fishing without a license has gone from $50 to $125. We have heard about local sportsmen who are unaware of certain law changes and were charged.

We will, from time to time, include items of hunting and fishing laws that may be of interest to our members.

NATIVE AFFAIRS

There has been no agreement signed between the Cape Croker band, the Saugeen band and the MNR. It is my understanding that some very weighty items are at issue, some of which could have a significant bearing on our sports fishery.

The Indians are now fishing in the previously closed bays at Owen Sound and Wiarton. It would appear to be a blatant attempt to blackmail the MNR into granting even more concessions. One must ask when, if ever, the Indians will have had enough? The two bands now have an aggregate quota of over two million pounds.

We have been in touch with the local MNR enforcement staff, and also, we have contacted Greg Farrant of the OFAH, who immediately got in touch with the Minister's office. Greg determined that the Minister did not want another Burnt Church, was unwilling to spend any great amount of money to repair the situation.

There is some evidence that the MNR, at very high levels, has been remiss in not providing the local fisheries management unit with the necessary parameters with which they could negotiate with the Indians. The Indians are reporting their catches. They report that 2/3 of the catch are whitefish and 1/3 is lake trout. Last year's MNR's lake trout studies indicated that 45% of the Owen Sound lake trout are naturally reproduced. We recall that a few years ago, Indian gill netting in the two bays absolutely decimated the lake trout. It would be a biological crime to deal a major blow to one of two known naturally-reproducing stocks in Lake Huron.

On a different tack, the Indian cage culture at Cape Croker burst the nets, and restaurant-sized rainbow trout are now flooding into Colpoys Bay. The Indians have surrounded the release area with gill nets, trying to recover the escapees, but of course, many will make it out into more open waters. This is great for anglers, but not at all good for the genetics of the local rainbow stock.

There is still no word on the Indian-inspired review of the salmon program in general, and the chinook stocking in particular, that has been so roundly condemned by the Cape Croker band and their tame biologist. Remember, if the Indians can stop the stocking of salmon, rainbow and browns, we sportsmen are effectively off most of Lake Huron, and the Indians will have complete control. This was the objective as stated by past Chief Peter Akiwenzie.

The very scary, ill-defined Metis rights to the public's game and fish is along way from being sorted out. Your reporter has been invited to attend local Metis meetings, and may be able to find out just what some of the demands are.

Blake Smith, President

FISHERIES ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Good news in the SSA hatchery. The 100,000 brown trout are now nearly all hatched out and are doing really well in the small SSA hatchery building. The chinook salmon in the larger SSA hatchery are also all hatched out, and have been removed from their hatching trays, and placed in the larger raceways, and are now starting to feed on our .7mm fish starter feed. The larger 20,000 9 month old rainbow trout have all been moved to the huge circular tank in the back room of the SSA larger hatchery building, and are quickly approaching the size of those speckled trout we use to keep when we were kids.

Good news as well for the SSA hatchery in 2004. Hard working SSA member, Don Borland, has agreed to be Coy Curries SSA hatchery co-chairman. Don has really become involved in our SSA fisheries program over the past few years and we're sure that Coy will much appreciate the extra help in running the affairs of this very important SSA project.our fish hatchery.

The final plans and approvals are presently being made for one of our Clubs largest undertakings ever, that being the digging out of the larger of the two ponds at the Jim Weaver property. This huge project is necessary in order for the SSA to maintain its operation of the SSA hatcheries at the Weaver site, and for the SSA to obtain the necessary permits to treat our hatchery water from the M.O.E.. We are estimating that this single pond dig project may cost the SSA in excess of $40,000.00. Because of this expensive but necessary Club project, president, Blake Smith has asked all committees to look carefully at their planned projects in 2004, and where ever possible, attempt to cut costs.

For those of you that are reading this fisheries report and did not attend the last SSA general meeting on Jan. 8th., you really missed an interesting talk put on by MNR biologist, Dave Gonder. His talk dealt with the current state of the chinook salmon populations in Lake Huron, (Georgian Bay), and a focus on recent changes in the Lake Huron, (Georgian Bay), chinook salmon populations, and potential reasons for these changes. If any of you would like to see a copy of his fisheries talk, our president, Blake Smith has copies of it and I'm sure he would make it available to you. Oh yes, it also cover extensively the true facts about the fin clipping project on our chinook salmon.

Mike Prevost, Chairperson
Fisheries Advisory Committee

Youth Activities Program

The YAP has started off the year quite well with a very successful turnout for the first air rifle shoot. The next shoot is February 1st and then February 15th, we will be shooting every other Sunday at 1:00 pm.

The winter campout will be held at the club house on the 14th and 15th of February. All YAP members big and small are welcome to come out and enjoy this great event. We will be sleeping outside in tents or inside the club house if necessary. Please call 363-9845 or 363-2893 to notify us that you are planning on attending and to get further information.

Sarah Stephenson
SSA YAP President

FORESTS & WILDLIFE ADVISORY COMMITTEE

The recent announcement by Paul Martin that he was going to overhaul federal firearms law, particularly related to registration, seemed too good to be true. His further statement that his government is still committed to registration proves that his statement was too good to be true.

We predict that:
I) the government review will be directed to cost savings.
2) the cost savings will be borne largely through increased user fees.
3) registration of long guns and associated legislation permitting firearms confiscation by government whim will still be on the books.

Please be aware that several Liberal MP's are on our side, including Huron/Bruce's Paul Steckle. Of course, Gerry Breitkreutz, late of the Alliance party and now of the new Conservative party, has been and still is our leading defender. More on this at a later date. It looks like we will have to resurrect our letter-writing campaign. Getting back to an issue that surfaced this fall, we can relate that several old-timers were rabbit hunting during the muzzle-loading season for deer in WMU82A. They were unaware that there had been a change in law a while ago, and they believed that because they were not hunting deer, that they did not have to wear hunter orange. Also, they were not concerned about any safety factor, as they were hunting out in wide open fields. They were charged. They had no guilty mind, but were ignorant of the law.

If this is indeed a safety issue, it does seem rather strange that others (bush workers, farmers, hikers, etc.) who, during the big game gun season, who are in an area where game is usually found, do not have the same requirement. Perhaps forcing this condition on other users would only increase posting against hunting -who knows? At any rate, the law reads as follows...

26. (I) The holder of a hunting or trapping licence shall wear a garment in hunter orange and a head cover in hunter orange while hunting wildlife.
(a) during the open seasons for deer or moose, other than the seasons restricted to the use of bows only, and
(b) during the fall open season for bear.
(2) The garment referred to in subsection (I) must be solid and not open mesh clothing with a minimum total area of not less than 400 square inches above the waist and visible from all sides.
(3) Clause (I) (a) does not apply to a person who is hunting migratory game birds other than woodcock.

(2)
(4) Clause (1) (b) does not apply to a person
a) who hunts small game
b) who hunts wildlife, other than bear, authorized
by a trapping licence on his or her trapline, or
c) who is in a tree stand while hunting bear.
(5) In this section, "hunter orange" means a daylight fluorescent orange colour with a dominant wave length between
595 and 605 nanometers, excitation purity of not less than 85 percent and a luminance factor of not less than 40 percent, but does not include camouflage hunter orange colouring.

The following concerns a law not yet on the books, but which likely will be in the near future.

The MNR has been attempting to come up with a workable big game party hunting maximum distance between a tag holder and other hunters in the party. Originally, conservation officers were holding out for a one-kilometer separation as necessary for reasonable enforcement of the law. Hunters immediately recognized that this was in no way a practical or workable distance. After much deliberation, the OFAH board of directors recommended a maximum distance that could range somewhere between 10 kilometers and 5 kilometers.

The present proposal by the MNR is for a maximum distance of five kilometers, the OFAH smallest distance. This distance, which would permit a three mile radius around the tag holder, will probably be alright for most deer hunting in southern Ontario. It may not be acceptable for certain moose hunting circumstances, such as boat drop-offs of hunters along a 15 mile long lake.

If you wish to comment on this issue, you can fax the MNR wildlife Section at:
1-705-755-1900
Re: ENVIRONMENTAL BILL OF RIGHTS
EBR# RB03E6011

Blake Smith, Chairperson
Forest and Wildlife Advisory Committee

MEMBER PROFILE,
DAN LAXTON

Dan was born and raised in Hamilton, and has been hunting and fishing for over 35 years. He is mainly interested in bird hunting, which he combines with his other passion raising and training hunting dogs.

Dan has been our social chairman, and has run many of the great SSA events, such as the annual beef barbeque. Now, he is going to get even more heavily involved in the junior shooting program, as well as with our new and upcoming skeet range.