GOOFY DFO REGS. OF THE PAST IN AREAS 19 & 20

[jandj2]

Bedford Islands Closure--in effect for about 10 years---no longer in effect
Constance Bank Closure in effect for about 10 winters---no longer in effect
Victoria Waterfront Closure(Trial Is. to Albert Head) for about 10 Februarys---no longer in effect.
Corridor Fishing only along the shore of Oak Bay to Sooke---no longer in effect
Size limit to protect Nooksack Srings March to May ---no longer in effect.
Barbless Hooks ---Originally came into effect to protect Upper Thompson River Coho. Now extended to all Salmon.
Back in 1979 or 80 (?) they outlawed the use of Downriggers.---Protests soon removed this stupid restriction.

Almost all of these restriction came in without proper explanation. No follow-up information was ever published and no reason given when they were lifted. Hello DFO, we the licence holders deserve to be informed of the reasons and results of your decisions.

 

[IronNoggin]

quote:Originally posted by jandj2

Hello DFO, we the licence holders deserve to be informed of the reasons and results of your decisions.

Now THAT is Funny! Given that they themselves don't understand the rhyme nor reason nor even results of their various willy-nilly decisions, how could they EVER</u> explain it to anyone else?

Cheers,
Nog

 

[profisher]

Those closures were put in place at the time to keep the Canadian Chinook tac from exceeding the agreement reached at the time between Can & the US. As the fishery and agreements changed over the years the closures were no longer required as originally intended.

 

[TheBigGuy]

quote:Originally posted by jandj2

Barbless Hooks ---Originally came into effect to protect Upper Thompson River Coho. Now extended to all Salmon.

I find some of DFO's regs annoying at times as well. However, barbless hooks are now the norm for Salmon fishing down the coast. The Americans in Wash, Or, and Cal introduced barbless for Salmon protection long before us.

Barbless singles allow releasing Salmon without major damage and are essential in protecting undersize byecatch. I will use a single barbless siwash (rather than double octo) on days when I am releasing a high percentage of Salmon. I may not land as many fish with the single barbless siwash, but I prefer to damage as few fish as possible. With the state of Salmon populations barbless hooks are an essential management tool. We may loose more when fishing barbless, but that is a compromise I am willing to make for the sake of conservation. You might as well just accept barbless as the standard because it's not going away any time soon.

 

[Silver Streak]

quote:Originally posted by jandj2

Bedford Islands Closure--in effect for about 10 years---no longer in effect
Constance Bank Closure in effect for about 10 winters---no longer in effect
Victoria Waterfront Closure(Trial Is. to Albert Head) for about 10 Februarys---no longer in effect.
Corridor Fishing only along the shore of Oak Bay to Sooke---no longer in effect
Size limit to protect Nooksack Srings March to May ---no longer in effect.
Barbless Hooks ---Originally came into effect to protect Upper Thompson River Coho. Now extended to all Salmon.
Back in 1979 or 80 (?) they outlawed the use of Downriggers.---Protests soon removed this stupid restriction.

Almost all of these restriction came in without proper explanation. No follow-up information was ever published and no reason given when they were lifted. Hello DFO, we the licence holders deserve to be informed of the reasons and results of your decisions.

Most of this is knee-jerk, crisis management, flavour of
the day restrictions. DFO is not addressing the real, big
picture issues. Its easier for them to nit pick on these
minor items and ignore the real problems.

 

[Derby]

Barbless hooks are here forever[]

 

[Governor]

DFO enforcement informs us at the SFAB that the mandatory barbless hooks for salmon regulation is the highest non-compliance issue and by percentage the most ticketed infraction in the sport fishery. Yet coast-wide we are still over 90% compliance (which is deemed good) on all regs as a sector.

Gov

God never did make a more calm, quiet, innocent recreation than angling - Izaak Walton

 

[TheBigGuy]

quote:Originally posted by Governor

DFO enforcement informs us at the SFAB that the mandatory barbless hooks for salmon regulation is the highest non-compliance issue and by percentage the most ticketed infraction in the sport fishery. Yet coast-wide we are still over 90% compliance (which is deemed good) on all regs as a sector.

Gov

Take a walk around a large marina in a major Salmon fishing destination. Look carefully at all the boats that have Salmon lures hanging inside. I will almost guarantee that 50% of the lures visible will still have barbs on the hooks. Obviously there is still a lot of resistance to using barbless. Seems to me if I were a CO, I'd simply write down the numbers of all the boats with barbed gear onboard in the local marina. Next time out on the water, check all boats you see on your blacklist. Would be like shooting fish in a barrel, lots of non-compliance would be stopped pretty quickly.

Sometimes I am embarrassed at how little regard there is for the regs in the saltwater. I think this reg has been around long enough that everyone should know by now.

 

[jandj2]

DFO makes all these rules but you do not see them very often out enforcing them. When I do see them it usually at the ramp but they only stick around for ten minutes or less.I guess they have more important things to do.