Continued Fishery Closure

[Mike]

CONTINUED FISHERY CLOSURE

WILL PROTECT ENDANGERED SPECIES

Aurora Trout Fishery Closed To Comply With

Federal Species At Risk Requirements

TORONTO - Ontario's Aurora trout fishery will be closed again this season to give provincial fishery managers more time to meet the conditions of Canada's Species at Risk Act, Natural Resources Minister David Ramsay announced today.

"Last summer, we decided to temporarily cancel the province's limited Aurora trout fishery until we are sure it complies with all conditions of the federal Species at Risk Act," said Ramsay. "We are continuing to work with the federal government to determine if we can re-establish an Aurora trout fishery in Ontario."

The ministry stocks nine northern lakes with Aurora trout to provide limited sport fishing opportunities for this species. Fishing for Aurora trout - with a possession limit of one fish per angler - has been allowed on two or three of these nine lakes each year on a rotating basis. This year's Aurora trout fisheries on Carol Lake, Lake #21 and Liberty Lake will not open on August 1 as scheduled.

There are only two lakes in Ontario where Aurora trout reproduce naturally. To protect these populations, the two lakes are designated as year-round sanctuaries by the ministry with all fishing prohibited.

"Over the past year, the ministry has developed a provincial species recovery strategy for Aurora trout that provides protection for this endangered species in the two lakes where they reproduce naturally and also includes a limited fishery in the lakes where they are stocked for angling," said Ramsay. "We will continue our efforts to have this strategy approved by the federal government, but until we have that approval the limited fishery cannot proceed."

The federal Species at Risk Act came into effect in June 2003 and the protection and enforcement aspects of the act took effect June 1, 2004.