Saskatchewan conservation officers are looking for information after a string of incidents involving caught fish being left for waste at lakes near Creighton.
According to provincial service Sasktip, conservation officers from Creighton have dealt with at least 14 separate incidents of anglers leaving fish - usually, but not exclusively northern pike - to die near fishing holes.
“These fish were deliberately left to waste, rather than being released back into the hole from which they were caught,” reads a statement released on Sasktip social media pages.
A cash reward of up to $2,000 is being offered for information that may lead to the arrest or conviction of any involved anglers. Fishers convicted of deliberately wasting caught fish will receive a mandatory one year suspension from fishing in Saskatchewan.
“No person shall...abandon, handle, transport or dispose of any fish in a way that wastes, spoils or otherwise renders those fish unsuitable for human consumption except as authorized on a licence or authorized by an officer,” reads rule 92(c) in Saskatchewan’s provincial fisheries regulations.
Anyone with information pertaining to the cases can contact the Turn in Poachers (TIP) line at 1-800-667-7561 or online at saskatchewan.ca/TIP. Information will be kept confidential.
