The fishermen have returned along with the spring weather. They began showing up on the bridge over the little river last weekend. I stopped and talked to a fellow who was there yesterday afternoon. They are fishing for Brown Bullheads (Ameiurus nebulosus), a kind of catfish. I wrote about the bullheads last year on April 23rd, so the fishing season has gotten underway a bit earlier this year. You can follow the link to last year’s post to learn a bit about bullhead biology. They are a native species that can tolerate low-oxygen conditions and higher levels of pollution than other fish. I asked the man how his fishing was going and he allowed that it was a bit slow. Friends had been out earlier and had caught 50 fish in under 10 minutes.
I noticed last year that each fisherman, or group of fishers would take what seemed to me to be a substantial number of fish. The bullheads move into the area as the breeding season arrives and congregate before spawning in pools in the headwaters of the river. Is this a good idea, removing fish from the breeding stock by the bucketful before they have a chance to reproduce?
Last year, I contacted the local conservation authority to ask whether there are any catch limits for bullheads. The man I spoke to informed me, rather defensively, I thought, that catch limits were nothing to do with them. They are set by the appropriate provincial regulator. It would seem that the conservation authority has no authority over the conservation of bullheads.
I looked in the bucket at the bullheads. The bullheads looked back as they gasp for air. For fish, they have strangely expressive faces. They looked sad.
Willow House Chronicles 
You can’t help but feel a little sorry for them, all crammed into this little bucket. The decent thing to do would be for the fishermen to kill them as soon as they’re caught, but perhaps they don’t keep as well if you do that. Are they eating them? Why would they possibly want so many? You’d think if they were just catching them for sport they’d toss them back.
You can find the provincial catch limits online. Eastern Ontario is zone 18. The full regulations for zone 18 can be found here. They don’t list Brown Bullhead, but do give catch limits for Channel Catfish: 12 individuals in possession at any given time for the more expensive license level, and 6 total for the cheaper level.
Okay, did a bit more poking about. Looks like bullhead are considered separate from catfish and are unregulated because so few people fish for them. They’ve got the colloquial name of “mud pout”. Here’s a forum discussion about it.
Thanks for your good research, Seab. I asked the guy who was fishing how many you need for a meal. He just said “Lots”. He had a dozen, which I would have thought would give a couple of people a good taste. I don’t know if they freeze them, or have friends over for a fish fry and beerfest, or what. They do call them mud pouts. Only some of the fishermen know their correct name.
If there’s no market for bullheads, then probably they’ll be fine; they have so far. Good for you for asking questions, though.
LB, no doubt you are right. They have survived this long with what has no doubt been an annual ritual for some time. Still, it would be nice if someone were keeping tabs on population numbers.