2019 Campbell River Reports

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Fished 11-3:30 boxed 2 lost 2. Nothing from 1-3:30. Going to start earlier tomorrow.
First Nations seine boat inside the boundary doing their food fishery, hard to tell if they got much.
 
Fished 11-3:30 boxed 2 lost 2. Nothing from 1-3:30. Going to start earlier tomorrow.
First Nations seine boat inside the boundary doing their food fishery, hard to tell if they got much.
Inside the boundary !!!! NICE !!!!!!! conservation yup !
 
Green sea and plumper yesterday. One bite. Talked to two other boats who were out all day and each got one. Saw some jumpers. Some guys at the cleaning table at browns bay were cleaning some fish. But definitely slow for most I would say.
 
Fished at Deepwater Bay on Saturday from about 9:30 to 3:30. Not one bite. 8-9 other boats. Saw 6-7 fish caught, 4 from one boat alone. All caught before 11:00 am. Very slow.

Fished Deepwater again on Monday from 8 to Noon. Went 2 for 2, both chum. About 6 other boats fishing in the area. Didn't see anyone else playing a fish. Again, very slow. One commy seining inside the boundary in Deepwater Bay. I was too far away to see how well he was doing.
Thanks for the report. Sounds like the chum derby will be slow this year.

Commercial not allowed inside boundary. Probably native or Fisheries.

Inside the boundary !!!! NICE !!!!!!! conservation yup !

Fellas, the "boundary" you're referring to is an Rockfish Conservation Area (RCA) and perfectly acceptable for Commercials to use nets. What is not allowed is hook and line. These are the rules and to suggest otherwise is misinformation.

This last summer I posted up a website that DFO put up to ask us what changes to RCA's that we think would be acceptable. This RCA was one of them and I hope that you fellas listened and made your thoughts known to remove this RCA.
 
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A number of years back the Recreational Fishers were allowed to fish in Deepwater Bay inside the boundary. The Commercial Fishers were not. They brought pressure on D.O.F. and the Boundary was changed and the Recreational fishers were not allowed to fish as were the Commercial Fishers. Please let us know where you got the information you are relaying on this thread. I have Recreational fished in this area for 40 years.
 
A number of years back the Recreational Fishers were allowed to fish in Deepwater Bay inside the boundary. The Commercial Fishers were not. They brought pressure on D.O.F. and the Boundary was changed and the Recreational fishers were not allowed to fish as were the Commercial Fishers. Please let us know where you got the information you are relaying on this thread. I have Recreational fished in this area for 40 years.
I agree with Bear on this also.
 
A number of years back the Recreational Fishers were allowed to fish in Deepwater Bay inside the boundary. The Commercial Fishers were not. They brought pressure on D.O.F. and the Boundary was changed and the Recreational fishers were not allowed to fish as were the Commercial Fishers. Please let us know where you got the information you are relaying on this thread. I have Recreational fished in this area for 40 years.

It's a RCA and the rules that govern RCAs have been around for a while. I too have fished up there for sometime but not as long as you that's for sure. I recall getting upset when I first say gillnets and seiners fishing in that RCA and thinking it was wrong. Not sure who cleared up my misinformation but the point is that I did find out and I did change my thinking.

Here is the links and info that you requested.

https://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/maps-cartes/rca-acs/index-eng.html
Rockfish conservation areas

There are 37 species of rockfish that are caught in fisheries off the coast of British Columbia. Inshore rockfish species (which include yelloweye, quillback, copper, china, and tiger) are usually caught with hook and line gear in rocky reef habitats. Monitoring and research programs in B.C. indicate that inshore rockfish, especially within the inland waters of Vancouver Island, are at low levels of abundance. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) needs your help to protect and conserve inshore rockfish. Since 2002, catch restrictions, fishery monitoring, stock assessment programs, and Rockfish Conservation Areas (RCAs) have been established throughout the B.C. coast. DFO’s rockfish conservation strategy is designed to alleviate further rockfish population declines. Within RCAs, inshore rockfish are protected from all mortality associated with recreational and commercial fisheries.

Permitted fishing within rockfish conservation areas
Fishing activity not listed below is restricted.

Commercial fishing
  • invertebrates by hand picking or dive
  • crab by trap
  • prawn by trap
  • scallops by trawl
  • salmon by seine or gillnet
  • herring by gillnet, seine and spawn-on-kelp
  • sardine by gillnet, seine, and trap
  • smelt by gillnet
  • euphausiid (krill) by mid-water trawl
  • groundfish by mid-water trawl
Recreational fishing
  • invertebrates by hand picking or dive
  • crab by trap
  • shrimp/prawn by trap
  • smelt by gillnet

Here is the info on the consultation of the Deepwater RCA and the requested removal. I hope I was not the only one that agreed with DFO on it's removal. It would be a shame if due to lack of interest, even though I did post it up on the forum, that they keep it.

https://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/consultation/ground-fond/rca-acs/deepwater-eng.html
 
This is a prime example of DFO politics. This was never intended as a RCA. It was brought about because the Commercial fishers complained that if the could not fish that area, the Recreational fishers should not be able to. Looks like they quietly changed the rules so Commercial could and Recreational could not. Prime example how DFO bends to the Commercial Industry wants. This is how DFO manages the West Coast fishery.
 
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