Hello everyone,
I have been reading this forum for a while but never posted, probably because I never had anything constructive to add. But this time I do:
I had never been clear as to whether or not recording a chinook/lingcod/halibut in the fishingbc app could replace writing them in ink on a paper license.
I had asked 2 DFO controllers (the usually nice guys checking catch as boat ramps). One said yes, one said no. But both were reasonable and the one who said no told me that if I had declared a chinook/lingcod/halibut and recorded it in the app, he would have let it slide and just informed me that it was not legal.
Fast forward to a month ago, I was fishing in Saanich inlet (my home water) looking for greenling, jigging in 25ft of water 50ft from shore with a 0.75oz jig. My wife and I love greenling but I have never consistently caught them in winter so this year I am making a concerted effort to find them (unsuccessfully so far).
I had noticed a black boat standing still for over an hour several miles out, and didn't give it much tought until the sound of outboards made me raise my eyes again and I saw that said black boat was a large coast guard rib, now 100ft away and coming straight at me. There were 3 people on board, a CG pilot, a CG manager, and a DFO controller, the only guy who spoke to me.
I will skip the details, other than to say that the DFO guy was unfriendly, clearly out to chew some meat, and since I seemed to be the only boat out, I was going to be this meat.
He tried to nail me on 2 fronts: I was fishing for salmon (because that's what everyone does), and my tiny jig with barbed hook was illegal, and I was going to retain chinook (again, because that's what everyone does), and I was at fault again because I didn't have a paper license to record in ink the chinook I was allegedly going to catch and keep.
He had no legal ground on either points, so after wasting my time, the CG time, and dfo's time for over 1/2 hour, he "let me go this time", and just proceeded to go check every crab trap in the bay since there were no other boats around.
He was obnoxious enough that I wanted to check on his facts, and possibly prove him wrong if I ever ran into him again.
So I sent an email to DFO to see if the fishingbc app is a valid way to record chinook/lingcod/halibut catch. Well, turns out he was correct, and we still have to record those catches on a paper license. I copied DFO's answer below for reference.
So for those who were planning on using the fishing bc app to record your catch (as I did), be aware that it is not legal and you can get charged for that.
So I now carry a digital AND a paper copy of my license.
I have been reading this forum for a while but never posted, probably because I never had anything constructive to add. But this time I do:
I had never been clear as to whether or not recording a chinook/lingcod/halibut in the fishingbc app could replace writing them in ink on a paper license.
I had asked 2 DFO controllers (the usually nice guys checking catch as boat ramps). One said yes, one said no. But both were reasonable and the one who said no told me that if I had declared a chinook/lingcod/halibut and recorded it in the app, he would have let it slide and just informed me that it was not legal.
Fast forward to a month ago, I was fishing in Saanich inlet (my home water) looking for greenling, jigging in 25ft of water 50ft from shore with a 0.75oz jig. My wife and I love greenling but I have never consistently caught them in winter so this year I am making a concerted effort to find them (unsuccessfully so far).
I had noticed a black boat standing still for over an hour several miles out, and didn't give it much tought until the sound of outboards made me raise my eyes again and I saw that said black boat was a large coast guard rib, now 100ft away and coming straight at me. There were 3 people on board, a CG pilot, a CG manager, and a DFO controller, the only guy who spoke to me.
I will skip the details, other than to say that the DFO guy was unfriendly, clearly out to chew some meat, and since I seemed to be the only boat out, I was going to be this meat.
He tried to nail me on 2 fronts: I was fishing for salmon (because that's what everyone does), and my tiny jig with barbed hook was illegal, and I was going to retain chinook (again, because that's what everyone does), and I was at fault again because I didn't have a paper license to record in ink the chinook I was allegedly going to catch and keep.
He had no legal ground on either points, so after wasting my time, the CG time, and dfo's time for over 1/2 hour, he "let me go this time", and just proceeded to go check every crab trap in the bay since there were no other boats around.
He was obnoxious enough that I wanted to check on his facts, and possibly prove him wrong if I ever ran into him again.
So I sent an email to DFO to see if the fishingbc app is a valid way to record chinook/lingcod/halibut catch. Well, turns out he was correct, and we still have to record those catches on a paper license. I copied DFO's answer below for reference.
So for those who were planning on using the fishing bc app to record your catch (as I did), be aware that it is not legal and you can get charged for that.
So I now carry a digital AND a paper copy of my license.