DFO's New Policy On Barbed Hooks

[MyEscape]

Directly from A Senior DFO Officer This Week: They have found that the $150 fine per barbed hook while fishing for Salmon is not deturing alot of anglers from breaking the law so there new policy this year is if you get caught fishing with a barbed hook or barbed hooks for Salmon they will seize ALL</u> your gear on the boat PERIOD</u> No excuses exceppted and no more warnings.

Also as another word of warning DFO are not just in there own boats they now are also riding with the Coast Guard Cutters and Zodiacs for full boat to boat inspections. This way they can cover more area's at a time and in more isolated areas.

Take This As A Formal Warning. This Is Not Second Hand Information
(No I Didn't Get Caught Running Barbed Hooks)

Check Your Gear Before You Put It In The Water A Mistake Could Cost You Alot of Money

Cheers ME

 

[richmake]

What's the policy on halibut or does this only concern us for targeting salmon

 

[MyEscape]

If you are trolling on downriggers with barbed hooks stating you were after halibut/lingcod/snapper/cod vs bottom fishing a Spreader Bar,Jig ETC I think you would have a hard time pleading a case.

Cheers ME

 

[blueorca]

Here's the rules as thay have been for the last upteen years:

"Penalties for contravention of the British Columbia Sport Fishing Regulations include voluntary ticket payments up to $1,000 and possible seizure and forfeiture of fishing gear and catch, or court-imposed fines up to $100,000 on first offence and possible court-imposed forfeiture of fishing gear, catch, vessel or other equipment used in the commission of an offence. Licences may also be suspended or cancelled."

"Formal warning" ????? When did you start up with DFO, I thought you worked for a living, Kevin.

 

[paramedic]

Just curious anyone know if you were jigging for cod with barbed hooks and caught a salmon would you have to release it ?

 

[steelheadfreak]

If this truly is the case, then the Fraser river will be alot less crowded this year. Oh wait. Sorry. The Fraser is a free for all and it aint patrolled. My bad.

I have a hard time believing DFO would confiscate your gear. I am just as guilty as everone else on this forum of forgetting to pinch my barbs at one time or another. To take my gear because of that one time? Im pretty sure Id get it back. Pay a fine, but get it back.

Personally, I pinch my barbs on all my hooks before they even go into the box on the boat but if DFO was really serious, they would ban the sale of barbed hooks. You wouldnt even have the chance to have that little breakoff tab that remains after sometines breaking the barb!

 

[Last Chance]

Without something written in stone stating that "You will loose all of your gear" or changes to the law in that affect, what happens is when you go to court to dispute your ticket, you would print off reems of convictions where nobody else who was a first offender got all of their gear taken.

I wonder what a judge would think of when you show up to court with your hoochie, teaser head, etc, and packaging for them that say they are for fishing "Cod, halibut and salmon". I think the burden of proof will be very hard for them to prove that you were not angling for salmon.

Or, we could just play by the rules, and not have to worry about being the next crusading sport fishing legal activist LOL!

 

[Barbender]

What about using shopping carts in the Fraser? Isnt that illegal too?

 

[Last Chance]

quote:Originally posted by Barbender

What about using shopping carts in the Fraser? Isnt that illegal too?

I didn't find that under "Gear restriction" but I know a guy who lost a pickup truck for throwing a sheed of plywood on the upstream side of a fish ladder. And the judge didn't let him have it back, so I think a shopping cart is a no-no.

 

[SeaWolf]

I usually use Gamagatsu Open Siwash on my spoons. As far as I know it is dam near impossible to find them in barbless or anything close. You can get closed Octopus Barbless but not the Siwash. When I pinch the barb, lots of times you hear the "click" of the barb. After being in saltwater the barb sometimes comes off leaving a rough spot where the barb was. Is this legal or illegal, anyone ever had one of those checked? I've tried filing them, but they are never going to be perfectly smooth. What are you other guys doing?

 

[Last Chance]

WHen I watch the "Man" check, if the barb is obviously gone, that usually does for the ones that patrol where I fish.

 

[Mornin Chubby]

I pinch the barbs in the same manor I do so rather than buy barbless, the left over rough area works well to help keep hook in. I have been checked twice in nootka and it was never a problem.

My question is when you say take all you gear do you mean rods and downriggers? or do you mean every thing you have on board even if you weren’t using it to commit an offence?

 

[Brokenrod]

Kev's right on the money. Mon the 18th the Coast Guard Cutter launched an over powered zodiac that approached us, asked for licenses, checked barbs, then made it very clear that, a $150 fine plus your gear would be confiscated if caught using barbed hooks for salmon.

 

[MyEscape]

What I was told was they would take your fishing gear. You would have your day in court to plead your case to the judge and let him decide your true fate. That's all I was told. I guess some people looked at the old system as oh well I'll take a chance and if I get caught I'll just get a ticket pay the fine and keep fishing. Problem is 15 minutes later the barbed gear is back down so there hoping this will deter repeat offenders. [?]

Cheers ME

 

[SeaWolf]

C.S. the left taillight on your trailer is burnt out. How about a fishing report?

 

[battaglino]

It just kills me how picky you are about barbs but you can still fish with 2 treble hooks (as long as they are barbless) I think they should just ban the barbed hooks for all fishing just so there wont be any excuses on what you are fishing for. I don't know the legal system up there but down here the state would have to prove that you were fishing for salmon rather than the other way around. If you had a boat full of bottom fish they would be hard pressed to prove it. I think that is part of presumed innocent rather than presumed guilty. Maybe it is different up there after 25 years in law enforcement I know how hard it is to find someone guilty.

 

[SeaWolf]

Was riding my bike Monday Night just past the Campbell airport, big rig and boat zoom by, pretty well a blurr. All the Merc stuff hanging on the back and the structure off your windshield, looked like the pics I saw here. Could only be one Filthy *****. Oh and then there was the trail of Lucky cans I followed to Hamm Road (just kidding).