Tugcapitan
Well-Known Member
In the Victoria reports section, fishing for Halibut in the traffic lanes was being discussed. A member PM’d me to ask if I thought anchoring for Halibut in the separation zone was legal, so I thought I’d start a new thread.
So, some of you may be aware that there is a problem with sport fisherman anchoring while fishing for Halibut in the traffic lanes near Haro strait and into Juan de Fuca strait. In a traffic lane itself, I stated that not only was anchoring against the laws of the courts and seafarers alike, but that I also think it is foolish. So how about the seperation zone?
Even though the Collision Regulations state that “a vessel not using a traffic separation scheme shall avoid it by as wide a margin as possible” (which includes the lanes and the separation zone), in my opinion it is not practical to expect pleasure craft to avoid the lanes altogether. It is also my opinion that this also refers more to vessels which would normally be using a traffic separation scheme but aren’t at that time. Again, my opinion, I think trolling or drifting while fishing in the traffic lanes is acceptable as long as the sport fisherman be cognizant of the fact that they “shall not impede the safe passage of a power driven vessel following a traffic lane”. This means watching for ships within a few miles, knowing exactly where you are in the lane, and taking early action to get out of the way so that the ship does not become concerned that you might not.
As for fishing in a separation zone, concessions are made for fishing vessels engaged in fishing. However, under the definitions in the regulations, sport fisherman and commercial trollers are not considered to be fishing vessels. Fishing vessels are only considered to be those “fishing with nets, lines, trawls or other fishing apparatus which restrict manoeuvrability, but does not include a vessel fishing with trolling lines or apparatus which do not restrict manouverability.” Even with the concessions for a fishing vessel to fish in the separation zone, they get no privileges while in there, “A vessel engaged in fishing shall not impede the passage of any vessel following a traffic lane.” The fact that there are these concessions though makes it clear that world-wide authorities recognize that people will fish in separation zones.
As for anchoring,
“A vessel shall so far as practicable avoid anchoring in a traffic seperation scheme, or in areas near its terminations”
This effectively forbids anchoring within 0.45M to 2M South of Trial Is and Discovery Is, and 2.5M to the East of Discovery, and the entire scheme up Haro into Boundary.
Enforcable? Not with the resources fisheries and the Coastguard have now!
In my opinion, anchoring for Halibut in a separation zone by an experienced person could be done. I won’t discuss the physical safety aspects (depths, tide, wind) as there are those on this forum who are expert, and have and will give better advice than I ever could on how or how not to do it. From a commercial traffic perspective though, if a guy was positive that he was in the seperation zone, and was keeping a good lookout (this is where the guys with AIS information on their chart plotters will have a huge advantage), and was also aware that they may have to cut loose from their anchor set-up if a vessel entered the seperation zone for an emergency or to avoid another collision (listening on VHF ch 11 will help, and VHF 16 at the very least), I would personally not complain. If you see a ship pointed near your direction and she’s blowing her whistle, get out of there! A container ship will take less than 10 minutes to be on top of you from 2 Miles away.
If you anchor so as to end up in the lane itself, you will be roasted on VHF traffic every time, although I doubt much will happen in legal consequence with what I’ve seen to be a lack of physical enforcement. I have heard many vessel names and boat registration numbers being reported over the air by commercial traffic before. One can’t forget though that lives and environmental disaster could be at stake, regardless if you get in trouble.
So, another long winded answer to a simple question!
Is it legal to anchor for Halibut in the traffic separation zone? No
So, some of you may be aware that there is a problem with sport fisherman anchoring while fishing for Halibut in the traffic lanes near Haro strait and into Juan de Fuca strait. In a traffic lane itself, I stated that not only was anchoring against the laws of the courts and seafarers alike, but that I also think it is foolish. So how about the seperation zone?
Even though the Collision Regulations state that “a vessel not using a traffic separation scheme shall avoid it by as wide a margin as possible” (which includes the lanes and the separation zone), in my opinion it is not practical to expect pleasure craft to avoid the lanes altogether. It is also my opinion that this also refers more to vessels which would normally be using a traffic separation scheme but aren’t at that time. Again, my opinion, I think trolling or drifting while fishing in the traffic lanes is acceptable as long as the sport fisherman be cognizant of the fact that they “shall not impede the safe passage of a power driven vessel following a traffic lane”. This means watching for ships within a few miles, knowing exactly where you are in the lane, and taking early action to get out of the way so that the ship does not become concerned that you might not.
As for fishing in a separation zone, concessions are made for fishing vessels engaged in fishing. However, under the definitions in the regulations, sport fisherman and commercial trollers are not considered to be fishing vessels. Fishing vessels are only considered to be those “fishing with nets, lines, trawls or other fishing apparatus which restrict manoeuvrability, but does not include a vessel fishing with trolling lines or apparatus which do not restrict manouverability.” Even with the concessions for a fishing vessel to fish in the separation zone, they get no privileges while in there, “A vessel engaged in fishing shall not impede the passage of any vessel following a traffic lane.” The fact that there are these concessions though makes it clear that world-wide authorities recognize that people will fish in separation zones.
As for anchoring,
“A vessel shall so far as practicable avoid anchoring in a traffic seperation scheme, or in areas near its terminations”
This effectively forbids anchoring within 0.45M to 2M South of Trial Is and Discovery Is, and 2.5M to the East of Discovery, and the entire scheme up Haro into Boundary.
Enforcable? Not with the resources fisheries and the Coastguard have now!
In my opinion, anchoring for Halibut in a separation zone by an experienced person could be done. I won’t discuss the physical safety aspects (depths, tide, wind) as there are those on this forum who are expert, and have and will give better advice than I ever could on how or how not to do it. From a commercial traffic perspective though, if a guy was positive that he was in the seperation zone, and was keeping a good lookout (this is where the guys with AIS information on their chart plotters will have a huge advantage), and was also aware that they may have to cut loose from their anchor set-up if a vessel entered the seperation zone for an emergency or to avoid another collision (listening on VHF ch 11 will help, and VHF 16 at the very least), I would personally not complain. If you see a ship pointed near your direction and she’s blowing her whistle, get out of there! A container ship will take less than 10 minutes to be on top of you from 2 Miles away.
If you anchor so as to end up in the lane itself, you will be roasted on VHF traffic every time, although I doubt much will happen in legal consequence with what I’ve seen to be a lack of physical enforcement. I have heard many vessel names and boat registration numbers being reported over the air by commercial traffic before. One can’t forget though that lives and environmental disaster could be at stake, regardless if you get in trouble.
So, another long winded answer to a simple question!
Is it legal to anchor for Halibut in the traffic separation zone? No
