If we catch any fish that we're going to eat, what is the proper procedure for discarding the waste?

Thank you in advance; this board has been VERY helpful. This world(country) would be more pleasant if more of you people existed!

You'll probably have to watch a video before you leave your outfitter or after you pick up you permit at the pickup station....In this video it explains the correct procedure for dicarding of fish remains....

You should not leave them on the rocks for the gulls and eagles (this is a somewhat new rule) And I really can't tell you why other than that it creates unwanted gull problems near your camp....

The correct method is to bury the remains far back from shore and camp, We found an up-rooted tree and buried them in the cavity in the ground and threw on a rock or two.

This is suggested for your regular cooking remains, also grease and dish water... it just helps prevent unwanted intruders around your camp...

Woodpecker

What I was told by the USFS about changing from leaving fish offall on rocks for eagles and Gulls was to try to control the Gull population. The feeling is the Gull population is growing and possibly negatively impacting the loon population through egg and young predation by Gulls.

By burying the offall away from where Gulls can access it will help control and reduce the Gull population by limiting part of their food supply. I am not sure this will work-but hopefully they will carry out some studies to see if it has any benefit.

Personally I think fish offall sunk deep in water is a better option. I know the USFS does not suggest it as if they say deep 6 your offall out in the lake too many will be lazy and put it in the water near campsites vs paddling out into the lake to send it deep.

Hope this helps.

Hey bogwalker, Does the offall sink and stay down it you put them out in the middle of the lake? Do waves or wind affect this?

I have been to some sites where the soil is not very much and would be concerned about some of the popular sites that have good fishing near-by. It seems that they could get overcome by the smell especially if people get lazy on putting it back far enough.

It sinks - I paddle out to deep water and let it go.

You should not dump fish remains in the lake, period. Though it will be out of sight, it does impact the lake ecology. Too bad the gulls are a problem (it's amazing how they'll come out of nowhere), but how hard is it, really, to walk a couple hundred feet away? Or go a little farther and don't bother burying the stuff.

What about burning the fish remains?

How does sending the remains to the bottom impact ecology worse than burying it? What happens to fish if they die from winter kill, disease, or attacked and not completely eaten? The remains stay in the lake. Would the amount added by us be too much for the lake to handle. Don't get me wrong, I follow the rules but something bogwalker said makes me wonder. He said the USFS thinks people would be lazy and just throw the remains in the lake from the shore.

If the USFS is trying to find a way to get people to dispose of the remains that is as easy as possible and environmentally friendly. I would rather paddle out and sink them over burying them back from shore.

I am not sure any of the 3 options are perfect solutions or for that matter better than the others.

What I do know is the BWCAW rangers now say to bury the remains back in the woods well away from camp so it does not feed the gulls. When I asked them about deep sixing them in the woods as the Quetico park rangers advise, the ranger I spoke to said the fear is people would litter camp shoreline and not take them far enough away from shore.

Yes, it's true the Quetico rangers suggest going out into the lake, piercing the fishes bladder and allowing them to sink to the bottom. They also do not want to feed the gulls and they worry about bears in campsites as people also will tend to bury remains too close to camp, many Quetico campsites already have garbage and human waste issues due to careless campers.

So all of this is an exercize in the lesser of two evils-trying to find a way to not feed gulls, not litter and turn campsites into fish burial areas and not turn lakes into fish remain infested shorlines. Guess depending on your point of view, and the person who is fishings willingness to follow prescribed methods, will determine the success of any program or idea.

BTW-I bury my fish remains well back in the woods away from our campsite in the BWCAW as the USFS suggests. In Quetico I deep 6. I follow the rules, not make mine own up.

As long as I do not have to pack them out! :)

Exactly fishinbuddy!

FYI - The third bulleted paragraph on page 20 of the 2005 MN Fishing Regulations booklet states "Depositing fish entrails or fish parts into public waters or onto lake or stream shores is prohibited".

The gulls are a pain in the keister. Anything I can do to help get rid of them, let me know. I think once they get established it will be almost impossible.

We used to drop our remains on the rocks and watch the birds eat. It was great to watch the Eagles come and feast. I can't stand the cackling of the gulls though.

I wonder why deep sixing the remains FAR AWAY from camp is a bad idea. That is what I would prefer.

Wishin I was fishin!

I think the USFS and DNR fear of suggesting disposing of remains in the water far away from shore is that some would think far away from shore was 6 feet out. This would lead to unsantary conditions near shore and camp.

I agree deep sixing in deep water probably makes the most sense but they do not think everyone would take the time to get in the canoe, paddle to the deep part of the lake and letthe remains go overboard. I happen to agree with them on that point.

I'm going to enter into this discussion knowing that some of you will be upset with what happened to me this year. I'm no way an expert in the BWCAW however, i've made several trips. When I've been by myself I have followed "the rules" taking the remains and burying them. However, this past summer I was w/ a guy who was very seasoned in the BWCAW had been up in the BWCAW more times than most of us will have the chance, he insisted on putting the remains on the rocks. Not sure why even after watching the video and the word of instruction from the ranger when picking up our permit. We were still watching the old video where it does say to put them on the rocks. The new video (have any of you seen this video yet?) says to burying the remains. But to keep the peace I just went along w/ how he was doing it, he also caught more fish than me and cleaned more of the fish. I believe that there will be an "education" curve for some who are going now vs. years past. I just thought it is interesting how things were done and how they are asking for things to be done now.

When we picked up our permit the ranger told us to just put the remains at least 150 from shore where critters would clean them up. We did that and in the evening watched the otters drag them back to the water and devour them.

in the bwca, they preach to bury them 150 feet back from shore. in the quetico, it's different. they adamately urge you to either leave them on a rock on an island way away from your campsite for scavengers, or to poke a hole in the air sac and paddle out to deeper water and drop them so they sink to the bottom.

i tend to side with the quetico train of thought. if you bury your fish, scavengers are going to find them regardless. more than likely, it'll be bear. and that will leave a mess. with the tools that you carry on a trip coupled with the rocky terrain of the area, you can't dig deep enough to get rid of the scent. i leave them on a rock on a small island where there are no campsites. it's a great show watching the eagles and seagulls fight over them.

always remember, never clean fish near your campsite....you'd be asking for trouble if you did.

After watching the video a few weeks back, the forest service ranger who gave us our permit said that they where now suggesting that if possible put the fish leavings in tree limbs near the shore such that the birds would see them, otherwise if not possible to bury them 150 feet from shore, and in both cases to paddle away from camp to do this.

I tend to agree with the BW rangers. Although critters are bound to get the remains anyway when you bury them 150 ft back, I think the rangers feel that if the gulls get it, it would be more detrimental to the forest ecosystem than if otters, martens, and even bears get them. No matter what, fish remains in the BW/Q will affect some aspect of the forest ecosystem. The only way to avoid this would be to pack remains out with you.
Ed

I have always put our fish remains on rocks away from camp. After reading about the concerns regarding the gull population, my remains will be out of site by all. I think we would all agree that more Loons and less gulls would be desirable.

well my fish recipe usually uses up the whole fish except fins and tail. i would toss the fins, tails, bones and left overs into the campfire. then i make sure its all burnt up.

On our first trip we buried the remains way back in the woods, about a foot deep. Covered everything with dirt and duff. The next day we checked on it and something had already dug it up. After that it was out on the rocks away from camp and we would watch the gulls and the eagles go after it. Lately we have been dumping it in the lake. I'm guessing that crayfish find it pretty soon because later the loons were diving over that spot and coming up with crayfish.