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Bears get hooked on fishing too
A local wildlife biologist casts her advice on fishing
With the fishing season gathering momentum, park rangers and conservation officers are working hard to prevent conflicts with bears.
In many parts of the region, this is the busiest time of the year for wildlife complaints, ranging from fishermen baiting bears for photographs, to people fending off bold bears with fishing rods.
Senior park ranger Robyn Anderson from Smithers has concerns about the recurring interactions in the Babine River Corridor Provincial Park, particularly those last year near the Babine River bridge during August, when a daily catch quota for sockeye was in effect.
“ I have had reports of bears stealing fish from holding pools, where fishermen store their fish, and of bears boldly walking up to people, forcing them to back away, and then stealing their fish,” Anderson said.
Last year, she said, Parks posted signs requiring fishermen to immediately store their catch in their vehicles. People who didn’t heed warnings were issued tickets for non-compliance. “Issuing a couple tickets seemed to quickly make the situation a lot better,” Anderson reflected.
She thinks regular communications between rangers and fishermen are necessary, as “people need to understand why the rules have been created so that they will comply with them.”
Despite the need for education and monitoring, budget constraints now only allows for a ranger to be stationed in the Babine park for five days per week in August, and none in September or October.
Heightened by the cutbacks, fishermen play an increasingly important role in reducing bear-human conflicts, by not only taking precautionary steps themselves, but by playing a role in helping other fishermen understand the importance of preventing conflicts with bears.
Prevention begins with understanding of bear ecology and behaviour. Imagine spending five or more months, including the coldest part of winter, with nothing to eat or drink.
In preparation for denning, bears enter a period of excessive eating by late summer, in a final attempt to build the critical, thick layer of fat. During salmon season, bears are highly motivated to maximize their success at finding food.
They are intelligent and have excellent memories. They are also curious and capable of learning quickly from prior practice.
Most bears will avoid people if given the opportunity. However, if repeated encounters occur, they can learn to tolerate or even ignore people at close distances. Biologists call this behaviour “habituation.”
Although habituated bears may appear unconcerned by human presence, crowding a bear can definitely create a dangerous situation.
An even more detrimental influence people can have on bear behaviour is by providing access to food. Bears that have learned to seek sources of non-natural food from people are called “human food-conditioned.”
Because of their reduced wariness of people, habituated bears are particularly vulnerable to becoming food-conditioned. If bears learn that fishermen provide rewards, the local fishing hotspot can quickly turn into a conflict hotspot.
Bears stealing salmon by boldly approaching fishermen is a classic example of food-conditioned behaviour. Not only does it create an unnecessary and preventable threat to human safety, if unchecked it will also compromise the long-term prospects for grizzly bear conservation because bears are the ones most likely to suffer the consequences when conflicts occur.
Bear & fishing etiquette
When fishing, it is your responsibility is to ensure that bears don’t have access to your food, garbage or other attractants.
- Clean fish in the water to avoid blood on the shoreline. Puncture the air bladder and throw the guts into deep or fast flowing water so that it does not wash back up onto the shoreline. If outside B.C., verify with local authorities if it’s legal to dispose of fish waste into water bodies.
- Do not bury fish waste, as bears can smell it and dig it up.
- Minimize odours that attract bears. For example, be careful to not get the smell of fish on your clothes or in your boat.
- Seal fish in an airtight bag and store in a cooler out of sight in a secure place, such as a vehicle, as soon as you have cleaned the fish—even if it means you temporarily lose your fishing spot.
- Store your lunch, garbage and other attractants so that bears cannot access it, out of sight in a secure place, such as a vehicle. Store smelly attractants such as food or garbage in plastic bags or airtight containers to reduce odours.
- Do not put fish waste into garbage cans, unless other information indicates that the container is bear-resistant and garbage is being removed frequently to ensure that smells are minimized.
- Use bear-resistant food caches if available.
- Keep children close to you where you can watch them. Do not send children to store fish in your vehicle.
- Leave your dog at home or keep it on a leash.
- For rivers where bait fishing is permitted, seal bait in an airtight, ideally bear-resistant, container for use on the river and keep bait that you do not need right away in an airtight container and store it in a secure place, such as a vehicle.
Take the time to learn more about bears and how to avoid encounters. Watch for bear awareness and safety information, including notices posted in parks or campgrounds, or material in government agency brochures. The videos Staying Safe in Bear Country: A behavioral-based Approach to Reducing Risk and Working in Bear Country: For Industrial Managers, Supervisors and Workers have been produced and reviewed by knowledgeable bear experts. To order from the distributor call 1-800-263-1818 or visit http://www.magiclantern.ca. Stephen Herrero’s book Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance is also an excellent resource.
To report a serious wildlife conflict, call 1-800-663-9453 for the Conservation Officer Service.
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