Peahead
Well-Known Member
Yes you can troll for salmon in the glass sponge reef areas but you must not make contact with the bottom when doing so. Bottom fishing is not permitted in glass sponge reef closure areas as well as no prawning/crabbing permitted. If a glass sponge reef closure overlaps into an RCA such as at the Queen Charlotte Channel/Passage Island sponge closure then you would have to apply the rules for both closure areas ( no fishing AND no prawning/crabbing) . Anchoring was something DFO didn't mention and that would obviously involve bottom contact. As it turned out it seemed that DFO couldn't impose (or enforce) a no anchoring reg simply because it is not considered "a fishing activity" on its own (even though it would damage marine life/ sponges)
The protection of coral and glass sponge reefs is one of the international commitments made by Canada with the United Nations Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.
http://notices.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fns-sap/index-eng.cfm?pg=view_notice&DOC_ID=171625&ID=all
While this Fishery Notice doesn't list "Recreational Ground/Bottomfish" in the title it does mention it with the closure maps and may have been added in a amendment. Aleria Ledwig mentioned that as long as Salmon fishing doesn't make bottom contact in the sponge areas it was not a concern to them.

The protection of coral and glass sponge reefs is one of the international commitments made by Canada with the United Nations Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.
http://notices.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fns-sap/index-eng.cfm?pg=view_notice&DOC_ID=171625&ID=all
While this Fishery Notice doesn't list "Recreational Ground/Bottomfish" in the title it does mention it with the closure maps and may have been added in a amendment. Aleria Ledwig mentioned that as long as Salmon fishing doesn't make bottom contact in the sponge areas it was not a concern to them.

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