Halibut opening

[searun]

So we'll be allowed a 133 cm. until March31 and then down to 111 cm. on the new license? I know it hasn't been announced yet,but when it is please confirm for me.

yes and no...the season will open on March 1. When it opens, the condition of license from the 2017 season still applies until that license expires March 31. As of April 1, we would then move to the new regulations. The Regional Director General (RDG) was reviewing the SFAB recommendations and in particular the elements that form the new "Conditions of License" Those being 115/83 cm with 1 fish per day/2 possession.(not 111 cm)..assuming the RDG has accepted the SFAB recommendation. The RDG could in theory over-turn the SFAB recommendation, but that is highly unlikely. We received notice that the RDG was still reviewing the conditions of license, thus the delay getting the official Fisheries Notice published. We will see that shortly as promised today.

 

[ILHG]

Fair to say he/she is having a hard time with this one. I hope.......

 

[searun]

Don't think Rebecca Reid is having a hard time making any decision - there's far bigger fish to fry than halibut right now keeping her busy. There's a long crap train lined up bringing more fun and games our way that have significant far reaching ramifications. What's coming over the horizaon will make the halibut issue look like a walk in the park....hunker down.

 

[Jencourt]

RECREATIONAL - Fin Fish (Other than Salmon)

Fishery Notice - Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Subject: FN0144-RECREATIONAL - Fin Fish (Other than Salmon) - Halibut: 2018 Fishery Opening March 1 2018 and Management Measures in Effect Until March 31, 2018

For 2018, the recreational fishery allocation of Halibut is 927,990 pounds.
The following measures will be in effect as noted below.

Further updates on the fishing regulations for April 1, 2018 will be provided
later in March 2018.


COAST-WIDE

Open time:
Effective at 00:01 hours March 1, 2018 fishing for Halibut will be opened coast-
wide until further notice.

Licensing:
The 2017/2018 Tidal Waters Sport Fishing Licences and Conditions of Licence,
remain in effect until 23:59 hours March 31, 2018.

Limits and sizes:
[Effective March 1, 2018 until further notice]
-The maximum length for Halibut is 133cm.
-The daily limit for Halibut is one (1).
-The possession limit for Halibut is two (2), only one (1) of which may be over
83cm in length.
-The annual limit is six (6) Halibut per licence holder, as set out on the
2017/2018 Tidal Waters Sport Fishing Licence.
-All halibut retained by the licence holder shall be immediately recorded on
the 2017/2018 Tidal Waters Sport Fishing Licence. The area from which each
Halibut is caught and its length shall immediately be recorded on the licence.

The exceptions to these openings are:

Areas 121:
No person shall fish for or retain Halibut, Rockfish and Lingcod in Area 121
outside the 12 nautical mile limit seaward of a line that begins at 48 degrees
34.000 minutes and 125 degrees 17.386 minutes W and continues south easterly at
a bearing of 116 degrees True to a point at 48 degrees 28.327 minutes and 125
degrees 01.687 minutes W.

Area 121:
Closed to all finfish, year round in the waters of Swiftsure Bank, inside a
line from 48 degrees 34.00 minutes N and 125 degrees 06.00 minutes W, thence to
48 degrees 34.00 minutes N and 124 degrees 54.20 minutes W, thence to 48
degrees 29.62 minutes N and 124 degrees 43.40 minutes W, thence following the
International Boundary between Canada and the U.S. to 48 degrees 29.55 minutes
N and 124 degrees 56.20 minutes W, thence in a straight line to the point of
commencement.



Variation Orders: 2018-81 (Close Time) and 2018-82 (Quota)


Non-residents of Canada wishing to fish for and retain Halibut in Management
Areas 121, 23 and 123 must purchase an electronic licence through a Canadian
vendor.

NOTE: Rockfish Conservations Areas (RCA's) remain in effect - refer to the
following website for descriptions:
http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/restricted-restreint/rca-acs-eng.htm.


FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Contacts: Brad Beaith (South Coast) – (250)756-7190
Peter Katinic (North Coast) – (250)559-8330
Carole Eros (604)666-7089.



Fisheries and Oceans Canada Operations Center - FN0144
Sent February 28, 2018 at 10:57
Visit us on the Web at http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca

If you would like to unsubscribe, please submit your request at: http://www-ops2.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fns-sap/index-eng.cfm?pg=manage_subscription

If you have any questions, please contact us via e-mail to: DFO.OpsCentreFisheryPacific-CentreOpsPechePacifique.MPO@canada.ca

 

[Charlie415]

Nice to see 133cm is still in play.

 

[Jencourt]

Not just Vic. Anyone who can get out to their favourite spot no matter where that may be.
This one month of fishing is as good as it will ever be I fear. Get em while you can!!!

 

[wolf]

Many other places to fish beside VIC . and you can fish almost any day there....here in vic there is a total of about really 12 days in march and we will be blown off the water for alot of them. become educated before you spout off about an area you really dont understand.....

Thanks for all involved in getting what ALL CANADIANS deserve a right to fish for halibut .....

Good luck Wolf

 

[ILHG]

Any surprises here for anyone? I would have thought they would have issued the 2018 Regs with this notice? Why is there such a rush to get recommendations from SFAB if they are still going to take another month to finalize 2018 regs?
Lastly is this typical?

Honestly this is the first year I have been watching for this so I don't have any past experiences to compare to.

 

[wildmanyeah]

Many other places to fish beside VIC . and you can fish almost any day there....here in vic there is a total of about really 12 days in march and we will be blown off the water for alot of them. become educated before you spout off about an area you really dont understand.....

Thanks for all involved in getting what ALL CANADIANS deserve a right to fish for halibut .....

Good luck Wolf

My apologies, I was under the assumption that by June/July the dogfish roll in and the new size restrictions it was going to make if very hard to find a smaller halibut for people in Vic later this year based on what other members have said. So then I thought that March would be about as good as it may get this year but it seems that people in VIC are just screwed so I apologize

Shows me for trying to understand other areas so I can be better informed and help. I am not from South Vancouver Area but i did by a membership to SVIAC to help support people in that area.

I really hate how this area vs area business is really separating fishermen

 

[Jencourt]

Any surprises here for anyone? I would have thought they would have issued the 2018 Regs with this notice? Why is there such a rush to get recommendations from SFAB if they are still going to take another month to finalize 2018 regs?
Lastly is this typical?

Honestly this is the first year I have been watching for this so I don't have any past experiences to compare to.

Deleted my response. Re read your post and think I misunderstood your question.

 

[searun]

Any surprises here for anyone? I would have thought they would have issued the 2018 Regs with this notice? Why is there such a rush to get recommendations from SFAB if they are still going to take another month to finalize 2018 regs?
Lastly is this typical?

Honestly this is the first year I have been watching for this so I don't have any past experiences to compare to.

No this delay (in getting the new 2018 regs confirmed) is not typical, but where we have the cross over period between the old and new regs, yes there is a separate notice filed. To be fair to DFO, what is driving that is there are some other very critical issues consuming the Department's capacity.

 

[GLG]

Well fellas looks like we just went from 15/85% split to ~17/83% split.
Here is why I'm saying that.

2016 IPHC document.
In Regulatory Area 2B, IPHC stipulated a catch limit of 7,300,000 pounds
(3,311.22 t) for the combined sport and commercial fisheries for 2016. The
Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) further refined this limit by
requiring a ratio of 85 percent commercial to 15 percent sport. The total 2016
Regulatory Area 2B combined commercial and sport landings was 7,135,000
million pounds (3,236.38 t), falling short of the catch limit by two percent.

2017 DFO / IPHC document
2B commercial and recreational TAC 7,389,943
2B commercial and recreational catch 7,168,917
That means we left 221,026 in the water that the recreationals could have caught.
Don't want to do that again in 2018.....

 

[Aces]

No this delay (in getting the new 2018 regs confirmed) is not typical, but where we have the cross over period between the old and new regs, yes there is a separate notice filed. To be fair to DFO, what is driving that is there are some other very critical issues consuming the Department's capacity.

Thanks for being so forthcoming with us on the forum and your efforts behind the scenes, Searun!

 

[wildmanyeah]

Stay toned for years to come!

https://www.iphc.int/uploads/pdf/cir/2018/iphc-2018-cr-003.pdf

15.1 Catch limits 127.The Commission AGREED that due to the lack of agreement on catch limits for 2018, that the status quo catch limits set for the 2017 fishing periods will apply for 2018, until such a time as the Contracting Parties apply more restrictive measures as permitted in the IPHC Convention.

“There was general agreement between Canada and the United States that we needed to reduce harvest levels in 2018 and that we should be targeting a fishing intensity at the IPHC’s reference level of SPR 46% by 2019. Canada and the United States agreed that we should take an initial step in 2018 in moving from the realized 2017 SPR level of 40% to a lower level of fishing intensity. There was not agreement though on how much to reduce fishing intensity, nor was there agreement on how the reductions should occur in each Regulatory Area.

It is clear that not all Regions have responded in the same manner to changes in fishing intensity. Since 2006 total removals in Region 2 (Regulatory Areas 2A, 2B, and 2C) declined by 46% while Region 3 removals (Areas 3A, and 3B) declined by 62%. Despite notable reductions in Region 3 removals, the Secretariat estimates that the coast-wide proportion of biomass in Region 3 has decreased by 18%. In contrast, Region 2’s proportion of biomass has increased by 15% during the same time period (Table 6A, IPHC-2018-AM094-09).

In response to the 2017 stock assessment Canada has agreed to take a significant initial step in reducing the 2018 TCEY in Area 2B from 8.3 million pounds to 7.1 million pounds. Canada is taking this step in reducing its impact on the resource primarily due a lack of recruits entering the population from a number of year classes. This lack of recruits is very concerning to Canada. Canada anticipates that further reductions of the catch limit will be required across all Regulatory Areas in 2019.

Canada is very concerned that the US will only be reducing its 2018 catch limits 7% (2.3 million pounds) from 2017 levels, while Canada intends to reduce catch limits by 15% (1.2 million pounds). Canada represents 19% of the coast-wide harvest; reductions must be more widespread.

Over the years Canada has identified a number of reasons that it has not accepted the coastwide stock distribution modelling methodology as a biologically defensible or acceptable method for defining Regulatory Area allocations. Canada notes that apportionment values have never served as the adopted catch limit in 2B (and several other regulatory areas due in large part to the lack of support from Canada and some US constituents for this methodology.;

Canada recommends that use of the current stock distribution modelling methodology for generating advice on Regulatory Area catch limits be discontinued, and that a more appropriate alternative can be found.

Canada agrees that the MSE Program of Work should deliver recommendations on alternate stock distribution strategies by the 2021 Annual Meeting.

It is proposed that, as an interim measure, reference catch limits generated by staff for Regulatory Areas be based on proportions derived from the FCEY values that the Commission has negotiated and agreed to in recent years. It is proposed to use the 2013 – 2017 period as the basis of determining interim proportions. This period is the most recent reflection of fishery dynamics and is also the point from which catch sharing plans in Alaska were established, meaning that what is included in the FCEYs agreed to during that period is stable.

This is the first year that the each Regulatory Area will be managing to a TCEY limit. As both Area 2C and 3A have substantial recreational fisheries that was not previously included in FCEY limits it may require in-season monitoring of these recreational fisheries to ensure that the total TCEY is not exceeded.

Canada’s Commissioners looks forward to working with their United States colleagues as we have done in the past to resolve this issue. It is very unfortunate that Canada and the United States were not able to agree upon TCEY catch limits for 2018. We view this as a failure in the process and hope that in the future that we will be able to reach a consensus on harvest levels as the Parties have done historically.”

 

[ILHG]

https://www.quesnelobserver.com/opi...owable-catch-for-halibut-should-be-increased/

 

[IronNoggin]

Don't think Rebecca Reid is having a hard time making any decision - there's far bigger fish to fry than halibut right now keeping her busy. There's a long crap train lined up bringing more fun and games our way that have significant far reaching ramifications. What's coming over the horizaon will make the halibut issue look like a walk in the park....hunker down.

Care to elaborate some?

I am hearing a few rumblings from the other side as well...

Wondering...
Matt

 

[searun]

If you go back to the Ministers recent news conference on changes to the Fisheries Act there is a glimpse offered....think along lines of allocation and reconciliation.

 

[The Jackel]

Searun appreciate all you guys do but don't throw bones out to the rest of us, either spill it or just keep it to yourself please! Thats all we need is more rumors etc, like we don't have enough going on with the hunting and fishing .

 

[Cuba Libre]

Jackel--- no secrets in what Searun stated.... Go listen to the new conference. Its pretty clear what the Minister is thinking....

 

[Old Blue]

I'm pretty clueless and probably ignorant as well to the US side of the story but the pressure must be coming from Big Business and Alaska on DFO yo reduce numbers because it seems like Washington State has been very strict with halibut and other fisheries such as salmon the past few years. ie coho shut down, 6-8 days of hali openings per year and more recently cancelling salmon farm licenses.