FWP Commission meets Aug. 13

The Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission will meet on Aug. 13th. Among the items to be discussed will be an update to fishing regulations. Regulations are updated on a four-year cycle with the last official update for the 2020 season. Any updates made between the four-year cycle seek to “to clarify intent of regulation or to correct typos or other errors that led to erroneous information”, or where “regulation change is needed to improve
enforcement efforts, to prevent illegal take, or to clarify intent to reduce innocent violations.”

Among the regulation changes important to our membership proposed for this meeting is a proposal to extend the current walleye catch, kill and report regulation from the current five waters to cover the entire region. The current regulation reads as follows;

“Walleye: All Walleye caught must be killed immediately, kept and the entire fish turned into FWP. Anglers who catch Walleye in the Western Fishing District are required to report the catch to FWP within 24 hours (406-752-5501). Anglers may be asked to provide their full name, ALS number, phone number, date and time of capture, and location. Anglers are
required to turn in the whole Walleye to a FWP office within 10 days of capture (frozen is allowed) during regular business hours.”

The proposed change is supported by the Flathead Valley Chapter for the reasons stated in the 2020 fishing regulations. “Rationale: Illegal introductions of Walleye have been discovered throughout the Western
Fishing District, especially in FWP Region 1. The department is proposing this regulation to discourage further expansion of Walleye population in western Montana and to quickly acquire data on fish that are discovered in new waters. This is strategy is consistent with management of unauthorized introductions in the Statewide Fisheries Management Program and Guide.”

Walleye are a direct threat to our native fish and our fishing west of the continental divide. We hope that our members and friends will support this simple extension of the current regulation.

The commission will also discuss two proposals regarding river recreation on the Madison River.

The Montana Fish & Wildlife Commission will meet Aug. 13 using the video conferencing platform Zoom. Details on how to access the meeting will be posted on fwp.mt.gov closer to the meeting date. The meeting will also be audio streamed online at fwp.mt.gov. The meeting begins at 8:30 a.m.