From Staff Reports
This season, Yellowstone National Park updated its fishing regulations so that they are consistent with the park’s Native Fish Conservation Plan. Among the changes was the elimination of the limit on non-native fish caught in all park waters except the Madison and Firehole rivers, the Gibbon River below Gibbon Falls, and Lewis and Shoshone lakes.
The park has scheduled a public meeting to help anglers learn about the recent changes in fishing regulations and how the changes support the park’s Native Fish Conservation Program, according to a statement released by the park’s public affairs office. Local fly shop employees and fishing guides are encouraged to attend.
The meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn West in Yellowstone, Mont. on Tues., July 2, at 7 p.m.
Fisheries management activities in Yellowstone are primarily focused on the recovery of the Yellowstone Lake Ecosystem through the restoration of the native fish species, including Yellowstone cutthroat trout, Arctic grayling, and westslope cutthroat trout.
Members of the park staff will also provide an early season report on the ongoing lake trout eradication efforts.
I think it’s a bit late for public meetings on fisheries policy. An overarching policy of killing ’em all Park wide should be what this public meeting is about. The folks who made this decision around a table would be gone from any Game and Fish Department in any of the surrounding states had they made this decision without any public meetings. This policy should be put on hold until they can hold such public meetings. It makes me wonder where my contributions to help control the Lake Trout in Yellowstone Lake are going–if they have enough money to really focus on that HUGE issue then I won’t be helping any more-as I see them using funds for this Park wide effort which is more esoteric and needed at this time.