Staff
The first order of business for the North Western Ontario Tourism Association at its annual spring meeting was to address the reality that it soon may be out of business.
At the April 30 gathering in Emo, concerns were raised by NWOTA president Lucas Adams and others about the long-term viability of the organization without more members joining up.
NWOTA has 90 years’ worth of history but membership numbers have been on the decline for several years.
As of the meeting, only 27 members currently were registered—down from nearly double that less than a decade ago.
Discussion centered around a more concentrated social media push to attract interest from prospective members.
However, the point was brought up—and agreed upon by most of those in attendance—that face-to-face interaction with tourist camp operators and others in the industry not currently in the NWOTA fold would be a more impactful means of increasing membership.
A call also was made for help from the region’s political reps to influence the provincial and federal governments to financially assist the organization, as well as area townships.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry made a presentation covering several issues at the April 30 meeting.
Darryl McLeod, in charge of management of resources at the Fort Frances branch of the MNRF, first touched on the ministry’s “Moose Project” which began last year.
It was undertaken to explore potential management actions to address or mitigate pressures on moose populations, such as harvest, predation, parasites, climate, and changing habitat.
During the first phase of consultations, opportunities for early action to support healthy and resilient moose populations in Ontario were identified.
Coming out of those consultations, the government created two new strategies that will be implemented over the next two hunting seasons.
This fall, for instance, the calf moose hunting season across Northern Ontario will be limited to a two-week period, beginning on the Saturday closest to Oct. 22.
Adult moose hunting also will be allowed during this time and up until the official end of the season.
Then in 2016, the start of moose hunting season will be delayed across much of Northern Ontario by one week.
Ontario’s total moose population currently is estimated at 92,300, with an estimated 78,600 of those classified as “huntable.”
The second figure is down from more than 100,000 in 2004 and 83,000 just a year earlier.
However, Wildlife Management Unit 12A, which includes Fort Frances, actually has seen a four percent increase in the moose population since 2011, as per the results gathered from the moose aerial inventory done by the MNRF earlier this year.
Meanwhile, deer abundance currently is low in the Fort Frances and Kenora district wildlife management units.
Christopher Martin, MNRF’s management biologist for the Kenora District, said both districts have experienced severe winters, which are understood to reduce deer survival.
Martin said four of the past seven winters in Fort Frances were considered severe.
Additional deer seals were reduced significantly in the Fort Frances and Kenora WMUs in 2014 in order to help recover deer populations.
Deer harvest quotas for 2015 currently are being determined.
As for Fisheries Management Zone 5, which includes the local region, Martin said the current plan is to extend the non-resident border waters regulation for both walleye and lake trout across the entire zone in January, 2017.
Martin clarified a Rainy Lake fisheries management planning process has not yet started and no council has been formed.
He said that was because the ministry has been focused on completing and implementing the Fisheries Management Zone 5 Plan for “inland” lakes of the area.
The MNRF currently is working with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to update the Ontario-Minnesota Boundary Waters Fisheries Atlas, which describes population status and suggested harvest targets for shared stocks of sportfish in Sandpoint Lake, Namakan Lake, Rainy Lake, and Lake of the Woods.
Martin said the planning process for Rainy Lake will depend on the outcome of a provincial review of specially-designated waters.
New criteria have been developed to rationalize the provincial water bodies requiring focused planning and monitoring resources.
These water bodies will be named Provincially Significant Inland Fisheries (PSIF).
