Youth fishing liscense regulations

[600 miles north]

Hello all, sorry I have been mostly MIA lately here. There are multiple reasons no one really cares about. But heading back up next weekend I have a liscense question. I know my family can fish off my liscense provided we only keep my limit. My 15 year old son wants to fish with his cousin who is an adult and will have his own liscense, but not nessasarily always with me. Question is, is it good enough if my boy has my liscense with him, does he even need to do that? The way I read the rule was he should be fine, even without having my liscense, but just want to make sure. Anyone have any experience with a situation like this? Thanks...

600 miles north is where I'd rather be!
Brad

[Jay Thomas]

Hi Brad,

First off, I’m no expert at interpreting Quebec’s Sportfishing Regulations. Consequently, what follows is just my opinion.

Your children (less than 18 years of age) can fish under your licence providing you are with them.

I can agree that that is not explicitly stated but is certainly implied. My rationale for this opinion is based on the rule that any of your children between 18 and 24 with a valid student's card could fish under your licence if they are in possession of your licence. That condition does not appear for any of your children (less than 18) fishing under your licence. It's my contention that the Quebec authorities prefer anyone less than 18 years of age fishing under some else's licence do so under the surveillance of that licence holder.

The best bet to obtain the absolute skinny on this topic is to contact Nancy Binette with the Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs at 819-763-3388, extension 270.

Another option would be to buy your 15 year old son a 3 day sport fishing licence ($31.56 Canadian). My daughter purchased annual Quebec sport fishing licences for her two sons (ten and eight) this year.

Lastly, you do not require a fishing licence to have a limit of fish. You could catch a daily limit of 6 walleye and give those 6 walleye to your son for his possession. If you did that, your own possession limit would drop to zero - freeing you to catch and keep more walleye if you wanted.   

Jay

[fishtildark]

Jay, also not an authority on Quebec's regulations and no argument with your response until the last paragraph... We were always told the kids could fish without a license but could not keep fish. i.e. one limit per license. With your interpretation a family with a boatload of kids could also have a boatload of walleyes under just one license. You could be right but wouldn't want to get Brad arrested. Sam

[puckster_guy]

 Interesting. does those rules apply to my wife? she comes to camp about twice a year. At least till I finish this place lol. Which will be by the end of august but thats another post. Antway can she fish with me in the boat under thwe same license? Limits are irrelevant to me since I rarely keep fish except for a fry at camp once in a while.

[limacharley]

 @ Puckster- she can fish under your license. You would be allowed one limit per license.

@ Jay- I do not agree with your last sentence. If I'm not mistaken, it's one limit per license.....age be damned.

[Jay Thomas]

Jay, also not an authority on Quebec's regulations and no argument with your response until the last paragraph... We were always told the kids could fish without a license but could not keep fish. i.e. one limit per license. With your interpretation a family with a boatload of kids could also have a boatload of walleyes under just one license. You could be right but wouldn't want to get Brad arrested. Sam

Hi Sam,

With respect to kids fishing under say your licence, can they (the kids and the licence holder) keep any fish? Yes. Quebec Sportfishing Regulations state the following:

In all cases, the total quantity of fish caught and kept per day must not exceed the quantity authorized for the licence-holder.

With regards to giving fish away and its impact on your possession limit, here are interpretations from both Quebec and Ontario authorities.

Quebec

In answer to your request, the regulation is similar than in Ontario, so that you have to stop fishing if you have reached your daily quota, but you can give the fish to your wife (your children or anyone else), so that the next day you're entitled to fish another daily quota.

Ontario

Any person is entitled to a valid possession of a limit of fish. The holder of a full sport fishing licence or any other person may possess the legal limit of fish. The holder of a conservation sport fishing licence may only possess the conservation limits for any species. 

If you give your fish to another person who may legally possess them, you are entitled to catch and retain or possess your (own) possession limit.

My own comments

For Quebec Zone 13 west, it's important to remember that in the case of only one valid fishing licence holder, the daily walleye catch limit remains 6. You couldn't give those 6 walleye away and go back out fishing for more walleye because you would be contravening the daily catch limit. If you don't give any of those 6 walleye away or eat some of them, the next day you won't be able to keep any walleye caught because you already have your full possession limit of 6. If you gave those first 6 walleye away, your own possession limit would drop back to zero and you could legally harvest 6 more walleye the next day. If a legally licenced fisherman with 4 kids and a wife go on a 6 day fishing trip, they could legally transport 6 possession limits home (one possession limit for each of them). One caveat, the kids have to be old enough to fully understand that they have been given a possession limit. I've been on fishing trips where there were only two fishermen and believe me, managing the possession limit can get tricky.

Jay

[600 miles north]

Thank you everyone for your response. Is it safe to say that he is able to fish with his cousin if he would keep no fish? If his cousin has a fishing liscense and keeps his limit, but no more does he being under 18 allow him to fish, just not keep any fish in that situation? I know the safe bet would be to just get him a liscense, just trying not to do that if it's unnecessary.

Brad

[600 miles north]

Also, am I correct in the fact that you can not purchase a fishing liscense in Quebec on line ahead of time? Here in the states I believe you can. That would make things easier on everyone if that were the case.

Brad

[Jay Thomas]

In my opinion, your son can fish with his cousin as long as he understands that he is fishing under the surveillance of the licence holder. Both your son and his cousin can keep fish in this scenario up to the daily catch limit of the licence holder.

I don't know if one can obtain a Quebec fishing licence online. A cursory Google search indicates no. Regardless, it takes about 5 minutes to get a fishing licence at places like Pronature in Témiscaming.

Jay

[600 miles north]

Thank you for all your input Jay, I really appreciate the time you put into helping everyone on this board out that you can.

Brad

[puckster_guy]

 I'll second brad's comments. Thank you.