The Honourable Dwight Ball, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Honourable Gerry Byrne, Minister of Fisheries and Land Resources, today announced details of the province’s 2018 salmon strategy. For the 2018 angling season only, all resident salmon licences will be sold for $5 plus HST instead of $23 (plus HST and a $3-vendors’ fee) charged in previous years. Vendors will retain the full amount of the $5-fee minus remittance of HST. Non-resident licences will continue to cost $80 plus the revised $5-vendor fee. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ decision to issue a late management plan, which reduces retention quotas to one fish only per season pending a mid-season review, is expected to result in a reduced interest in salmon angling. This fee structure change is to help compensate vendors for errors and omissions caused by DFO’s delayed availability of licences, and is being implemented to ensure a strong and sustained presence on our rivers by responsible anglers to encourage conservation of the salmon resource. The change also recognizes the financial impact to licence vendors and equipment suppliers that would otherwise result from a reduction in licence and angling-related equipment sales. In response to the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ catch-and-release limit of three fish per day set for all rivers in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2018, the Department of Fisheries and Land Resources will create regulations under the Wildlife Act to allow the minister the authority to establish catch-and-release annual and in-season quotas, suspend or cancel licences, and enable scientific research. The Department of Fisheries and Land Resources will also embark on a Newfoundland and Labrador-specific study of catch-and-release angling and its impact on salmon mortality. This research, specific to the unique environmental conditions of Newfoundland and Labrador, will ensure availability of the best possible science on which to base future catch-and-release specific regulations. Details on the study can be found in the backgrounder below. Quotes “We encourage all anglers to continue to take to our rivers and renew their connection with the valuable resource they love. Now more than ever, we need a strong and sustained presence on our rivers by anglers who are connected to wild salmon like no one else and are fighting for their protection.” Honourable Dwight Ball Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador “My department is committed to ensuring Newfoundland and Labrador’s important salmon resource is managed using the best science available. The study announced today will help determine the impact of catch-and-release angling on salmon mortality and establish the best approach. We must work to ensure this resource is managed based on true science, and that it upholds anglers’ established values of conservation.” Honourable Gerry Byrne Minister of Fisheries and Land Resources

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Learn more Fisheries and Land Resources – Angling Follow us on Twitter: @GovNL  and @FLR_GovNL Media contacts Michelle Cannizzaro Office of the Premier 709-729-3960 michellecannizzaro@gov.nl.ca Linda Skinner Fisheries and Land Resources 709-637-2284, 632-8167 lindaskinner@gov.nl.ca

Backgrounder

Study of catch-and-release angling and its impact on salmon mortality in Newfoundland and Labrador The Department of Fisheries and Land Resources will conduct a two-year study using the latest in radio telemetry tags to track the fate of salmon caught and released under typical conditions in several rivers around the province. The salmon will be tagged this season and in 2019, and tracked for an entire year to determine both short-term survival immediately after release, and potential long-term effects on survival, spawning and migration.