Members of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry were busy on Saturday, June 15, 2024 at a wildlife check station just north of Highway 401 at Port Hope.
Officers were set-up on the southbound lanes of County Road 28 at Telephone Road directing people with boats along with periodic checks into the MTO Yards just west of County Road 28.
At the check station items such as fishing license, the number and type of fish caught along with new regulations involving invasive species that include no aquatic plants on the trailer or boat, making sure to take plug out of boat to drain water and always drain water from the live well.
On January 1, 2022 Ontario introduced regulations requiring specific actions to clean and drain watercraft when travelling overland.
Regulations concerning the transport of water is to prevent invasive species into other waterways.
Conservation Officer Tyler Grant with his canine partner Trigger were also at the location.
Trigger is a three-year-old Chocolate Labrador Retriever and has been operational since October 2023.
Trigger is one of six dogs in the Province that is specially trained in a number of different areas including detecting certain odours to help investigations along with being able to track persons.
“We train them on specific fish to the geographical area they are working in,” said Grant.
“They are trained to detect, brook trout, lake trout, walleye, rainbow trout and depending on the area they maybe trained on pike, bass or other specific species.”
Grant explains the dogs are trained in case a angler is concealing the fish in a vehicle, boat or wooded area.
“The purpose of Trigger being here today is to locate any concealed fish that someone may have unlawfully caught or someone might be in unlawful possession of.”
Grant and Trigger were in training for 16-weeks for the program, but also have periodic refresher training.
“So that way when I come to an area like this, that Trigger is up to the standards that the Ontario public expects and also what the courts would expect.”
Although Grant and his canine partner have been operational for less that a year, Grant said it’s been “awesome.”
“In the field we’ve located a number of pieces of evidence for officers and also helped other officers find fish and wildlife species.”
“He’s had a very successful career considering how short it’s been so far.”
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
