The issue of Americans fishing along Canada’s border waters being raised.
A new Economic Development Executive Committee for the town of Fort Frances reviewed a letter from Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP Marcus Powlowski. He is asking for legislative changes that prevents illegal fishing. It stems from his discussions last summer with area tourism outfitters.
In the letter, Powlowski writes, “As I have been told, since 2017 Canadian fishing guides in Rainy Lake and Lake of the Woods have been repeatedly coming into more contact with American fishing guides operating and parking their boats in Canadian waters without first having passed through a Customs Office or having their clientele obtain a non-resident fishing license. These Canadian guides are aware of these circumstances as they routinely interact and speak with their American counterparts. They have indicated to me that these excursions are done regularly, openly and prevent themselves and other Canadians from accessing certain fishing locations.”
Rainy River Future Development Corporation’s Geoff Gillon says it’s an issue that has been around for many years.
“Back in the ’70s, it was like the wild west. Americans were coming across two, three times a day, catching limits of six. It really did a number on the population on Rainy. It is worth looking into. Whether there’s a solution, I don’t know,” says Gillon.
The federal government changed a section of the Customs Act in 2017, allowing boaters that enter Canadian inland waters from the US to avoid the need to report to Canada Customs as long as they do not land, anchor or moor.
The town’s Chief Administrative Officer Doug Brown sees it coming down to enforcement.
“As long as the boat doesn’t go onto land and doesn’t stop, they’re trolling, fishing for walleyes. There’s no one enforcing it. That’s the biggest issue because the boats are probably stopping, but the Canadian government is not actually going out there and saying, ‘hey, that boat is stopped,” says Brown.
Councillor John McTaggart supports the MPs intent but doesn’t want changes that impact recreational boating.
“I’d like us to be very specific that we don’t want to discourage recreational boating. That would have repercussions to residents here,” says McTaggart.
The committee did recommend Mayor June Caul write a letter in support of Powlowski’s efforts before taking any further action involving the rest of council.
