One-fish limit: Government releases salmon fishing regulations

Salmon fishers in this province will be allowed to catch and keep one salmon this season.

The rule applies for all rivers that currently allow fish retention, and it may be only atemporary limit.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada will conduct a mid-season review to set the limits for the rest of the summer.

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Anglers will also have to abide by acatch-and-release limit of three fish per day for all rivers in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The latest salmon stock assessment shocked scientists at DFO. It showed 80 per cent of rivers in the province had at least a 30 per cent decline in salmon population, compared with the average over the last five years.

DFO said it hadn't seen a similar decline since the commercial salmon moratorium in 1992.

Last August, DFO took the major step of declaring the salmon fishery catch-and-release only for the remainder of the season.