Group formed in P.E.I. to fight for striped bass protection after DFO ups allowable catch [Video]

A fisherman in Prince Edward Island is leading a new group aimed at protecting striped bass, a fish that has exploded in popularity across the province in recent years.  

Mackenzie Sapier said tourists are even travelling to the Island to catch the “exciting” fish. 

But he said the fish has been endangered in the past, and could be again — Fisheries and Oceans Canada has increased the number that can be caught commercially in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence area, from 50,000 to 175,000. 

The Striped Bass Association’s new P.E.I. chapter is one of several that have formed recently across the Maritimes and in the Gaspe region of Quebec. 

“The commercial fishery allocation… concerned a lot of people. They upped it, they almost tripled it,” said Sapier, who’s from Tyne Valley. “That …