Alberta Fishery Regulations, 1998 (SOR/98-246)

Sale of Fish

11 No person shall buy, sell, trade, barter or offer to buy, sell, trade or barter any fish unless it was caught and retained under the authority of a licence in which the sale of fish is authorized and that is issued under the Act or the provincial Act.

Molest, Disturb or Remove Fish

12 No person shall molest or disturb fish or remove fish from a facility or structure that is

• (a) erected by the Department, or under the authority of a research licence issued under the provincial Act, and that is used or designed to catch or hold fish; or

• (b) designed to facilitate the passage of fish.

PART 2Authority to Fish

• 13 (1) No person shall fish except as authorized by

  • (a) the provincial Act;

  • (b) subsection (2); or

  • (c) a licence issued under subsection (3).

• (2) Subject to section 18, an Indian may engage in sportfishing without a licence.

• (3) The provincial Minister may issue a licence to an Indian to engage in fishing solely for the purpose of catching fish for food for their personal use or for the use of their immediate family.

• (4) No fee shall be charged to issue a licence under subsection (3).

13.1 For the proper management and control of fisheries and the conservation and protection of fish, the provincial Minister may specify in a licence issued under subsection 13(3) any condition that is not inconsistent with these Regulations and in particular, but not restricting the generality of the foregoing, may specify conditions respecting any of the following matters:

• (a) the species of fish and the quantities of fish that are permitted to be taken or transported;

• (b) the age, sex, stage of development or size of fish that are permitted to be taken or transported;

• (c) the waters in which fishing is permitted to be carried out;

• (d) the location from which and to which fish is permitted to be transported;

• (e) the person or persons who may conduct fishing operations under the licence;

• (f) the period during which fishing or transporting fish is permitted to be carried out;

• (g) the vessel that is permitted to be used for fishing and the persons who are permitted to operate it;

• (h) the type, size and quantity of fishing gear and equipment that are permitted to be used and the manner in which they are permitted to be used;

• (i) the specific location at which fishing gear is permitted to be set;

• (j) the depth of water at which fishing is permitted;

• (k) the range of the depth of water within which fishing gear may be deployed;

• (l) the distance to be maintained between fishing gear;

• (m) information to be reported by the holder of the licence to the Department before the start of a fishing trip with respect to where and when fishing will be carried out, including the means by which, the times at which and the person to whom the report is to be made;

• (n) records that the licence holder shall keep of any fishing activity carried out under the licence including the manner and form in which the records are to be kept, the times at which and the person to whom the records are to be produced and the period during which the records are to be retained;

• (o) the marking or tagging of fish for the purpose of identifying the source of the fish;

• (p) the segregation of fish by species before and during transport;

• (q) the period within which findings and data obtained as a result of fishing are to be forwarded to the Director;

• (r) the species of fish, including fish of particular sizes, that must be released and the manner in which they are to be released; and

• (s) the period during which the release of fish is permitted to be carried out.

PART 3Sportfishing

Application

14 This Part applies only to sportfishing.

Close Times

15 No person shall sportfish in the waters set out in column 1 of an item of Schedule 4 during a close time set out in column 2 of that item.

Catch Limits

• 16 (1) No person shall in any day catch and retain from the waters set out in column 2 of an item of Schedule 5 more fish of any species set out in column 1 of that item than the quota set out in column 3 of that item.

• (2) No person shall catch and retain from the waters set out in column 2 of an item of Schedule 5 a fish of any species set out in column 1 of that item that is of a prohibited length as set out in column 4 of that item.

Possession Limits

• 17 (1) No person shall possess more fish of a species than the daily quota determined under subsection 16(1) for that species for the waters in which the person is fishing.

• (2) No person shall at any time possess more fish of a species set out in column 1 of an item of Schedule 6 than the quota set out in column 2 of that item.

18 No person shall possess a lake sturgeon unless authorized by a Sturgeon Fishing Licence issued under the provincial Act.

Angling Restrictions

19 No person shall angle using

• (a) more than three hooks attached to a line;

• (b) a hook with more than three points on a common shaft;

• (c) a lure with more than three hooks as part of it;

• (d) in open water, more than one line;

• (e) in ice-covered water, more than two lines;

• (f) a spring-loaded hook; or

• (g) any fish as bait, other than dead bait fish, dead smelt, dead herring, dead shrimp, dead fish eggs or the skin, fins or eyes of game fish caught by angling.

20 No person shall

• (a) fish by snagging;

• (b) possess fish taken by snagging;

• (c) possess a snagging device; or

• (d) possess a gaff hook while angling.

21 No person angling shall be more than 30 m from any line that the person has in the water.

22 No person shall angle through ice in

• (a) any flowing waters in Fish Management Zone 1, except the portion of the Lobstick River lying in 53, 54-9, 10-W5; or

• (b) any beaver pond.

23 No person shall fish with prohibited gear or bait set out in column 1 of an item of Schedule 7 in waters set out in column 2 of that item during the close time set out in column 3 of that item.

Dip Net, Minnow Trap and Seine Net Restrictions

24 No person shall fish with a dip net, seine net or minnow trap

• (a) for any fish other than bait fish or crayfish; or

• (b) in any waters set out in column 2 of items 3 to 6 of Schedule 7 during the close times set out in column 3 of those items.

• 25 (1) No person shall fish with a minnow trap unless

  • (a) it is visibly and legibly marked with the person’s name and address; or

  • (b) it does not exceed 60 m in length or 30 cm in width, depth or diameter.

• (2) No person shall fish with more than two minnow traps.

26 No person shall fish with a seine net that exceeds 3 m in length or 2 m in depth.

Bow and Arrow Restrictions

• 27 (1) No person shall fish with a bow and arrow for Arctic grayling, trout, mountain whitefish, lake sturgeon, walleye or northern pike.

• (2) No person shall fish with a crossbow.

Spear Restrictions

• 28 (1) No person shall fish with a spear except when swimming and unless the spear is propelled by a spring, an elastic, compressed gas or by hand.

• (2) Despite subsection (1), no person shall fish with a spear for Arctic grayling, trout, mountain whitefish, lake sturgeon, walleye or northern pike.

PART 4Commercial Fishing

Application

29 This Part applies to any person engaged in fishing under the authority of a licence issued under the Act or the provincial Act that authorizes the holder of the licence to sell fish.

Restrictions

30 Except when sportfishing, no person shall fish for bait fish unless authorized by a Commercial Bait Fishing Licence issued under the provincial Act.

• 31 (1) No person shall fish in the waters set out in column 1 of an item of Part 1 or 2 of Schedule 8 during a close time set out in column 3 of that item using gear set out in column 2 of that item.

• (2) If a close time for fishing with gill nets is varied under subsection 3(1) to permit fishing, the Director shall specify in the order that one or more of the gill net mesh size limits set out in the table to this subsection are permitted.

  Item	Permitted Mesh Size
  1	51 mm
  2	not less than 51 mm
  3	63 mm
  4	not less than 63 mm
  5	70 mm
  6	not less than 70 mm
  7	76 mm
  8	not less than 76 mm
  9	89 mm
  10	not less than 89 mm
  11	102 mm
  12	not less than 102 mm
  13	not more than 102 mm
  14	114 mm
  15	not less than 114 mm
  16	127 mm
  17	not less than 127 mm
  18	140 mm
  19	not less than 140 mm
  20	152 mm
  21	not less than 152 mm
  22	159 mm
  23	not less than 159 mm
  24	165 mm
  25	not less than 165 mm
  26	178 mm
  27	not less than 178 mm

32 If a mesh size limit is specified in an order referred to in subsection 31(2), no person fishing in waters to which the order applies shall use a gill net that has a mesh size other than that specified in the order for those waters.

Notification of Quota Taken

• 33 (1) If a fishery officer has determined that a fishing quota for a species of fish set out in column 4 of an item of Part 1 or 2 of Schedule 8, in the waters set out in column 1 of that item, with the gear set out in column 2 of that item, has been or is about to be taken, the fishery officer shall give notice that the quota has been taken.

• (2) The notice referred to in subsection (1) shall be given to the persons affected or likely to be affected by the notice by one or more of the methods listed in subsection 3(2).