DFO regulation definitions

[Bugs]

After reading the post below in the Victoria Reports thought it might be worth having a separate thread to discuss:

porcupine said:
Those squat lobsters are a member of the crab family and the daily limit is 4 per person. I have spoken with DFO many times about this and have tried to get the limit changed, but it is still only 4 per day. Like prawns, a person could be fined $100 per each over the daily limit.

IrishWolf said:

Good to know. Thanks for posting. Interesting (and off thread topic so I’ll be quick) there is no mention of “squat lobster” in the regs, thus by reg definition, they would be classified as either:

1. Shellfish—> Invertebrates —> Other shellfish

or

2. Shellfish —> Unknown

Both of which carry a 20 per day limit.

Given this I think DFO would be hard pressed to justify a fine.

Regardless, thanks for the heads up! Save us some hassle.

Cheers

 

[Bugs]

Would be interesting to see this one in court... there is no single crab family if using the biological definition of family.

 

[Rockfish]

It would be good if DFO addressed this issue. I know if you drop your prawn traps in the inlet you can often tell that you are a little deep if you pull it up and it is loaded up with squat lobsters, sometimes hundreds of them. Most sport guys just dump them back in, re-bait the trap for prawns and drop it a little shallower. There is really little interest in them by sport guys and as far as I know, they don't commercial fish them much at all. They do look a little like a tiny lobster but with a rather flat tail and long claws. Even the largest ones do not have much meat in them. I did eat a few some years back to try them and to me they taste very similar to red rock crab. No reason why there should not be a large sport limit just for them for the few guys who may be interested in them. I have seen them turn up in the bellies of Halibut off Victoria.

 

[Derby]

Send in a request to your local SFAC to look in to this

 

[agentaqua]

It would be good if DFO addressed this issue. I know if you drop your prawn traps in the inlet you can often tell that you are a little deep if you pull it up and it is loaded up with squat lobsters, sometimes hundreds of them...

Excellent post rockfish. My experiences, as well. I would add - if you catch those large sea stars (sun stars Pycnopodia spp.) - you are fishing too shallow; and that there isn't much to a squat lobster. Not really worth the effort.