Perhaps those of you who are higher tech than me (and that doesn't take much) knew this was a thing. Montana FWP wants it to not be a thing.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is looking to ban the use of drones for fishing. While still more common in other parts of the country tech anglers are more frequently using boats and airborne drones to track, locate, and cast to fish. Currently, drones may not be used to track animals during hunts. But there is no specific language discourage drone use for fishing. That's where FWP would like to put a new spin on the wording.

Currently the law states that anglers cannot use a gun, trap, or “other device” to entrap, catch, or capture fish. If a drone is considered an “other device”, then Montana FWP could better legally regulate its use.

With downriggers, planers, sonar, fish cameras, and so much other legal technology changing fishing, it could be argued that the new drones are simply another tool in the tackle box. Boat electronics can side scan, determine thermoclines, locate structure, etc. Laws prohibit drones from being flown near wildfires, and inside National Parks. Drones can be legally used by enforcement and Biologists for surveillance and research.

So, at this point, it is sounding like an ethics debate until the wording is addressed. Is it fishing or is it not?

 

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