Corner Brook -
While anglers seem to welcome the new Atlantic salmon tags issued this season, there have been some suggestions on improving them for 2011.
The new tags are being hailed for being harder to tamper with.
Included in the new features is the requirement to cut out the month and date a tagged fish is taken.
One angler posted a comment on the website of the Salmon Preservation Association for the Waters of Newfoundland (SPAWN) about the small print outlining the dates.
"Personally, I don't have any problems with them but I know for some people the very fine print on the tags is difficult to see," wrote the online poster. "I helped a fellow angler this past week who was having trouble seeing the day of the month. He nearly clipped the wrong date which could have been trouble, especially with his grandson there with him. Perhaps, next year the print can be a little larger."
Another person posted a warning about insect repellent coming in contact with the new tags. That angler said the print on the tag had begun to wear off after it was inadvertently exposed to his fly dope.
"This is a caution to other anglers that this could happen, and now on that tag I cannot see the dates in some places," wrote the individual. "I guess I will have to go to DFO to get a replacement tag. Bit of a pain in the you know where, but I am glad that tag is not the tag I would have had to use yesterday because there is no way I would have known where to punch the date out because it is completely illegible in some sections."
John Blake is the director of wildlife with Department of Environment and Conservation, the provincial department responsible for the newly designed salmon tag system.
He said the department has not received any complaints officially but, being an avid fisherman himself, Blake has heard some comments from older anglers about the small print.
"If you can thread your leader through the eye of a No. 12 salmon hook, then you can cut out one of those numbers," said Blake. "I guess everyone has their own particular issue, but I would say that problem is not widespread.
"I think the general consensus is that the tag design is good and is what people have been looking for."
As for the fly repellent issue, Blake said the potent substance might wear off the print on a driver's licence, or any other such document for that matter. It's a good idea, he said, to keep fly dope safely separated from such important items.
"I don't know why we would single it out as an issue with the tags," said Blake, who advised anglers experiencing that problem should go and get their tags replaced.
The department will review the tags, plus other legislative changes introduced for this season, and the feedback received about the changes when this season is over to see what, if any, modifications are needed.
"I think there is all kinds of opportunity to take every bit of feedback we have gotten so far and will get for the remainder of the season and modify that system when we go to requisition the tags for next season in the fall," said Blake.
