Opening of angling season adds eyes for researchers on P.E.I.'s Morell River
2nd year for tagging project on one of the Island's most popular fishing spots
Monday was opening day for the angling season on Prince Edward Island, and the start of year two for a trout tagging project on the Morell River.
Staff from P.E.I.'s Forests, Fish and Wildlife division captured, tagged and released the trout in the weeks leading up to the start of the season.
They were on hand as the season opened to collect any tags and record where they were caught, including freshwater fish biologist Rosie MacFarlane.
"Last year, we initiated a fish tagging project to see if we can get a better handle on the population of sea trout in the Morell River, as well as the movement of those fish," MacFarlane said.
"We can also determine some growth rates from the study."
"The Morell has consistently been one of the busiest, most popular places to fish in P.E.I., especially in the opening part of the season," MacFarlane said.
"There had been some concerns about the the daily limit of trout here, and this is why we chose Morell."
Better understanding
MacFarlane said they tagged 43 trout, and have more than 70 tagged this year. Brook trout is also called speckled trout, and in salt water people call them sea trout.
"We did get a number of tag returns last year, and I expect we'll see some of those picked up this year as well," she said.
"We have to crunch the numbers and look at the data, but between the two years, it should give us a good indication of what's going on."
The trout tagging project is being done in partnership with the the Morell River Management Cooperative.
"Morell and Midgell are are very popular rivers for angling. And for our group, it's really great to have the extra eyes and ears on the river to let us know about any issues they see, or any positive things they see," said watershed co-ordinator Hannah Murnaghan.
"We're trying to get a better understanding of the sea trout population so that we can make better management decisions and protect the species and take the right conservation steps."
We can make better management decisions and protect the species and take the right conservation steps.—Hannah Murnaghan, Morell River Management Cooperative
The watershed group was also on hand to help collect data on fish being caught on the Midgell River and conduct a creel survey, talking to fishers about what they are catching.
MacFarlane said the surveys give them insight into trends in fishing in the area.
"You would expect that most people fishing here would be from Kings County, but there's a lot of people that travel great distances to get here," MacFarlane said.
"It's a really good opportunity to find out how many fish they're catching, the size of the fish they're catching, what species of fish. So it's something that's worth doing every year."
MacFarlane said staff will be in the Morell River area for the next week or two collecting data, including the number of hours people fish, and the number of fish they're catching, as well as any tags.
She said they want to see the results from the two years of tagging before making any decision on whether to expand to other waterways.
'Stripers' a big hit
Striped bass, or stripers, were the big attraction on the Midgell River on opening day 2024, with even bigger crowds than on the Morell River.
The catches were fast and furious, most of them catch-and-release.
Stephen Trowsdale landed his first striper, measured at 97 centimetres and more than 20 pounds.
WATCH: 'It's a monster': P.E.I. man catches 3-foot bass on opening day:
He said there was no comparison between catching the striped bass and a trout.
"Did you see the difference in the size? Oh, man, that's a thrill," Trowsdale said.
"My wife's grandfather, he used to tell me when you catch a salmon, if you catch a big salmon, he said, you will drive many a mile to be able to do that again. And that experience right there? Yeah, same thing."
The bass was released back in the water, as it was over the legal size limit of 50 to 65 centimetres.
New this year, active members and veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces get a free fishing licence when they show identification. The Wildlife Conservation Fund fee is also waived.
Anglers under 16 do not require a licence, nor do adults helping children fish.
Anglers between 16 and 18 and those over 60 can also get an angling licence at no charge.
The P.E.I. government said there are about 10,000 fishing licences distributed every season.
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