Suggested regulation changes for moose hunters are prominent among the new regulatory proposals released Friday for public review.

Another proposal to ban roadside hunting of grizzly bears in the Southern Lakes region is back on the table.

There’s a proposal to provide the government with the ability to prohibit the use of off-road vehicles in Habitat Protected Areas.

Among the 13 suggested changes to wildlife regulations is a recommendation from the Teslin Renewable Resource Council to remove the slot limit for northern pike in Teslin Lake while maintaining the possession limit of only one over 41 inches.

The Yukon Fish and Wildlife Management Board on Friday released the proposed changes to regulations for public review and comment. The deadline for feedback is Dec. 8 at 4 p.m.

The board is providing an online survey as a means of gathering input.

There’ll also be community meetings if a community expresses an interest in having one.

A meeting for Whitehorse has already been scheduled for Dec. 11 at the Yukon Inn.

In keeping with normal practice, the wildlife management board will develop recommendations at its December meeting for each of the proposals, which could be a recommendation to accept or reject the regulation change. The board submits its recommendations to the minister of Environment in January.

Four of the 13 proposed changes focus on more intense management of the annual moose harvest.

Environment Yukon is recommending its minister be given the ability to implement several additional management tools across the Yukon if the minister feels it is necessary – adaptive management.

The department is suggesting the minister be given authority to implement permit hunts for all sub-zones across the Yukon and take other management actions without having to invoke an emergency measure.

Among the other actions is the ability to limit the harvest of bull moose to young and old moose by requiring hunters determine the approximate age of the moose by the “configuration of antlers.” It’s a management tool used widely in B.C., says the proposal.

The proposal calls for providing authority to the minister to enact restrictions on the use of off-road-vehicles across the Yukon and to adjust hunting season dates.

Another proposal by Environment Yukon is aimed at reducing the harvest along the South Canol by implementing a permit hunt for all the subzones along the road between Quiet Lake and Ross River.

There’s also the option of implementing a harvest based on antler configuration, or modifying the hunting season dates, says the proposal.

Information provided by Environment Yukon suggests the moose harvest along the South Canol has been well above sustainable levels for at least the last 25 years.

Environment Yukon points out in the proposal the harvest by licensed hunters has been at or within sustainable levels.

When adding the estimated number of moose harvested by First Nation hunters, the total harvest along the South Canol has been double or more than double the sustainable level in 12 of the last 25 years, including last year and the year before.

Similarly, the department is calling for a suite of options to return the moose harvest in the Mayo region to sustainable levels and turn around the declining population.

The proposal includes setting a maximum harvest. It would require hunters to report their kill within 72 hours, to avoid overshooting the threshold, much like what the department does now in the Faro region.

The Carcross-Tagish First Nation and the Taku River Tlingit First Nation of Atlin are proposing a ban on roadside hunting of grizzly bears throughout the road network in the Southern Lakes.

The ban would include the Tagish Road, the Atlin Road to the B.C. border, the South Klondike Highway from the Carcross Corner to the B.C. border and the Alaska Highway from the M’Clintock River Bridge to Jakes Corner.

It would prohibit shooting grizzlies within 100 metres of the road.

Environment Yukon is proposing to support the roadside ban where there is local community support, just as it is set out in the recently released Grizzly Bear Conservation Management Plan.

The Teslin Tlingit Council is recommending the slot limit for pike be removed as a means of allowing anglers to reach the daily catch limit without having to release several fish before attaining the limit.

The current requirement of having only one fish over 104 centimetres or 41 inches would be maintained.

The Tlingit Council is also seeking to have the lake returned to general fishing regulations for pike that allow for a daily catch limit of five pike and having 10 in possession.

The proposal would encourage anglers to target pike in a lake with a healthy pike population while reducing pressure on lake trout.

“Many local anglers who are interested in keeping northern pike expressed a frustration with having to release multiple fish before catching a fish below current slot size limit of 30 inches (when fish can be retained),” reads the proposal.

There is also a proposal by Environment Yukon to increase restrictions on burbot fishing by reducing the daily catch limits from 10 per day to three, and possession limits from 20 to 10.

The government says evidence indicates a skyrocketing interest in burbot fishing which occurs mainly in the winter with anglers using set lines.

There are also proposed regulation changes affecting the Hart River mountain caribou herd in the Peel River watershed and the Nelchina caribou herd along the Yukon-Alaska border.