Proposal By DFO - Changes To Recreational Crabbing

[Rain City]

your suppose to have rot cord on your traps so they open up are a set time...not sure how long that takes..interested if someone knows?

I think the rot chord is to open up a big hole to let the trapped crabs out, not sure on timing but I'm sure it's based on before they would starve. The other holes that are required are to let undersized crabs come and go freely so you're not harvesting them at all. I think...

 

[Derby]

Interesting.. i have alway used it for the latch for top of my trap.. and have always used the commercial trap with the escape rings

 

[searun]

Pretty sure you can't leave traps in the harbor overnight for safety reasons.

You are allowed to fish your gear over-night, not to set and haul in (some areas). They are proposing it apply to all areas, which is reasonable to counter illegal crabbing.

 

[mbowers]

If there's lot's of bait they'll stick around. The escape holes are for when your buoy gets cut off by a commi and the trap sits down there for a year and once the crab have all eaten each other the last one can eventually find its way out through the top of the trap. Allegedly.

The rot cord is for ghost traps. The escape holes are to allow smaller crab to escape when bigger crabs enter and make room for more big crab and reduce injury to smaller crabs. But if the escape hole is so big that it lets legal rock crabs out, then you can be left with a trap full of sub legal but bigger than 115mm Dungeness and no rock crabs. Hafta try a 105mm ring over a barely legal rock crab to see if they can escape.

 

[Peahead]

You are allowed to fish your gear over-night, not to set and haul in (some areas). They are proposing it apply to all areas, which is reasonable to counter illegal crabbing.

While SV's cut and paste from DFO does say "setting and hauling" of traps is not permitted at night, when looking at the DFO's site the regs for area 28 Vancouver Harbour/Indian Arm the reg actually states "no fishing" at night.

"Night closure area: Reminder It is illegal to fish for crabs from one hour after sunset to one hour before sunrise"

From DFO's own implications and actual descriptions in the crab regs as to what in fact "fishing" crab means is that "fishing" a trap is when in the water, line and float attached ( rot core still intact) and able to capture crab.

As RainCity mentions, I do believe there was a night closure inside Pt Atkinson that was reported to be due to crab/prawn traps float navigational issues in the harbour and that may have been a Harbour Authority regulation. I will look into it to try and clarify but either way it looks to me DFO needs to clarify the reg and whether by saying "illegal to fish for" they actually mean "no setting /no hauling" only.

 

[trophywife]

yes , those areas of burrard inlet are closed for crabbing overnight (leaving soak) due to navigational.... yet the commies still had the sets out many times overnight in those areas described in the regs.

 

[Peahead]

Thanks for that Trophy. Apart from what I had heard about a nav closure ( no traps soaked over night) in Van. harbour and parts of Indian Arm, logic also told me ( always refreshing when DFO occasionally does demonstrate some) that the wording " illegal to fish for crabs" would mean illegal to have a crab trap left in the water soaking.

 

[seadog19]

there are two and sometimes 3, commercial crabbers setting gear daily from berry pt up to reed point. These strings are picked in the mornings and reset and left over night.