If you are 16 years of age or older:

• you must have a valid basic licence to sport fish for any species of fish in non-tidal waters (including salmon)
• you must purchase appropriate supplementary licences and stamps
• you must carry your licence while sport fishing and, if asked, produce it for inspection by a Conservation Officer, Fishery Officer, RCMP constable, Park Ranger in a park, or an Officer under the Wildlife Act

If you are under 16 and a resident of BC:

• you may sport fish without any licence or stamp
• you do not need to be accompanied by a licence holder
• you are entitled to your own quota of fish

If you are under 16 and a non-resident of BC:

• you do not require any licence or stamp to sport fish, but you must be accompanied by a person (resident or non-resident) who has the appropriate licences and stamps
• any fish you keep must be counted as part of the catch and possession of your accompanying licence holder
• if you want to catch and keep your own quota of fish, you may buy a licence and any necessary supplementary licences and stamps

Non-Tidal Licences are now available on-line. The new Non-Tidal (Freshwater) Fishing E-Licensing system allows anglers to register to obtain an Angler Number and purchase their basic No-Tidal Angling Licence, Classified Waters Licences, White Sturgeon Conservation Licences and Conservation Surcharge Stamps, at any time.

To purchase your angling licence on-line or for further information, please go to fishing.gov.bc.ca.

Anglers may also obtain electronic licences from their local Service BC Centre or any licence vendor who may offer this service. For a listing of Service BC Centres and licence vendors, go to http://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/lvs/.

• You must be in possession of a valid licence prior to resuming fishing.
• Do not buy a new licence. You are only permitted one annual angling licence per year.
• If you lose the licence that you purchased on-line, you can:
  • reprint it from the Internet
  • get a Service BC centre to reprint it for you
  • get a licence vendor to reprint a copy (there may be a fee)
• Your retention record must be transferred to the new copy.
• In exceptional cases, "old-style" paper licences may be issued by guides and some licence vendors. If you lost one of these "old—style" paper licences, visit any Service BC Centre or licence vendor for further instructions.

You can download and print specific regions from the synopsis or obtain a hard copy from a licence vendor. To download the Freshwater Fishing Regulations Synopsis please visit our Fishing Licences & Regulations page.

In British Columbia about 800 lakes and streams are stocked annually with over eight million trout, char, and kokanee produced from the five facilities operated by the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC (FFSBC). For a complete listing of lakes that are stocked, and to find out more about stocking in BC, visit our stocking reports page.

The Ministry of Environment's provincial regional biologists manage the lakes and determine the stocking levels, types of fish, and sizes to be released into BC's lakes. The Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC provides the rearing and stocking activities to meet the management goals.

The Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC (FFSBC) stocks rainbow trout, cutthroat trout, brook char, steelhead, and kokanee salmon for the angler. Each strain and species occupies unique habitats and offers different angling experiences.

You must have a permit from the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations. Learn the steps to obtaining rainbow trout pond permits and farmed sturgeon permits.

We are currently working on updating our strain catalogue. The new catalogue will provide information on all species and strains we currently produce in order to provide angling opportunities. The FFSBC currently stocks Pennask trout, Blackwater trout, Gerrard trout, and the Fraser Valley strain rainbow trout.  View our Rainbow Trout Strains currently stocked in BC waters catalogue.

The use of non-reproductive technology in hatchery production has direct benefits to the fishery and protects wild fish populations. This technology involves a sterilization process that is unique to each species of fish. Such treatments increase the cost on a per-fish basis, but the fishing benefits can be substantial. Currently approximately 50% of the small lakes in BC are stocked with triploid fish. FFSBC produces triploid rainbow trout, eastern brook trout, kokanee, and cutthroat.

Benefits of Sterility:

• triploid fish can potentially live longer than diploid fish
• natural post-spawning mortality is reduced
• can result in a higher number of larger “bright” fish being available to the fishery
• has the advantage of reducing the risk of potential genetic interactions between hatchery and wild fish and/or preventing the establishment of hatchery populations in areas of conservation or biodiversity concerns.

For most of the year lakes will stratify into layers. This is due to the density of water at various temperatures. Water is most dense at 4C (39F). Warmer water is lighter. During the late summer or early fall air temperatures cool the surface water. The cooler (more dense) water falls and is replaced by lighter water at the surface. This continues until the water temperatures throughout the water column is approximately 4C (39F). At this time wind action can cause the entire water column to mix creating "turnover". In the spring after ice-off the process is reversed. As cool surface water is warmed by the spring air water falls in the column until the entire water column is 4C (39F). Turnover can often be identified by turbid water conditions as debris from the bottom of the lake bed is mixed throughout the entire water column. A lake in turnover can re-stratify in days to weeks depending on weather and lake conditions.

When ice covers a lakes surface water can no longer obtain oxygen with air mixing. The combination of ice and snow on a lake result in limited sunlight penetration. Vegetation in lakes produces oxygen through photosynthesis during the ice free portion of the year. With light unable to penetrate the lake surface, photosynthesis stop and vegetation can begin to decompose. Decomposition results in oxygen consumption. Winterkill occurs when the result of these conditions deplete dissolved oxygen levels below threshold levels able to support fish.

Depleted oxygen levels throughout the summer months can result in what is known as summerkill. The process by which this occurs is much different from that of winterkill. In general, warmer water is able to hold less oxygen than cooler water. Warmer summer water temperatures can also result in large algae blooms in productive lakes. During daylight hours blue-green algae produce oxygen through photosynthesis, however at night they may revert to respiration, a process that consumes oxygen in the water. During the right conditions this can lead to dissolved oxygen levels depleted to levels that are incapable of supporting fish and summerkill occurs. Algae blooms can also be subject to large die-offs. Decomposition of the algae is another process that consumes oxygen and again if dissolved oxygen levels in the lake fall below threshold levels to support fish, a kill can occur.