Deer Lake -
Natty Rubia has been guiding new and non-resident salmon anglers on the waters near Big Falls for almost 40 years, providing expertise and direction to ensure visitors to the area have the safest and most successful experience possible.
He's upset because Newfoundlanders are not the only ones guiding on the province's waters and he thinks it's both unfair and unsafe.
"It's ridiculous. Non-residents need a guide. They're from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick. They're here from Quebec. They're down here guiding and they come down with their own people. And we're sitting on the beach starving to death," he said.
He said guides have to apply for a licence every year which includes testing on boat safety, first aid, compass skills and general guide training. He said people unfamiliar with the waters and surrounding woods create a safety hazard for themselves and those they are guiding.
"For them to get a guide licence and then come down here and guide, I don't think it's right ... They don't even know where the pools are or nothing," said Rubia.
Corner Brook resident Bill Burton is another guide in the area and said he has seen non-resident groups fishing without guides at all. He said he has made four reports to the Salmon Preservation Association for the Waters of Newfoundland (SPAWN) about non-residents fishing in the waters without guides.
"Non-residents shouldn't be fishing without a guide ... When four people come over from Nova Scotia and they all fish, who's guiding who? It's unbelievable what goes on," he said.
He said he has seen similar situations in other regions of the province as well.
"I was down in Hawkes Bay and the same thing was happening down there and nobody won't say nothing ... When those guys come over they're paying me every day to guide them, and the other group comes out and takes possession of the pools. It's not fair," said Burton.
Both guides said Sir Richard Squires Memorial Provincial Park has no jurisdiction over the waters.
On the Department of Fisheries and Oceans website, non-residents wishing to angle scheduled waters in the province 800 metres from a provincial highway are required to use a licensed guide or be accompanied by a direct relative who is a resident of the province.
According to the province's Angler's Guide for 2010-2011, a resident is "any Canadian citizen residing in the province six consecutive months or more, or any person residing in the province 12 consecutive months or more."
A spokesperson for the wildlife division of the Department of Environment and Conservation said before 2001, guides were limited to residents of the province. They said a multilateral national agreement was signed at that time stating the province could no longer limit residents of Canada to apply for jobs in Newfoundland and Labrador, with guides falling underneath the umbrella of provincial jobs.
"There's no doubt the residents are upset that other people are coming to the province fishing and not having to hire a resident to guide them. Residents are not making money off the non-residents coming here to fish. We can go to other provinces and do the same thing to them," said the spokesperson.
"Where do you draw the line. Residents and non-residents both have to go through the same process. They've got to meet the certain criteria for guide licences. They have to apply for a separate guide licence for Newfoundland," they said.
To ensure regulations are followed, the Provincial Inland Fish Enforcement Division of the Department of Justice conducts check stations such as one performed on July 4 at the Upper Humber River near Sir Richard Squires Memorial Provincial Park. Officers from Inland Fish Enforcement checked 44 vehicles to inspect salmon and licences and to ensure compliance with the provincial Wild Life Act and Regulations, according to the Salmon Preservation Association for the Waters of Newfoundland.
