2019 Crab Regs - Two Escape Rings

again though, aside from "because I said so", or "because it's the law" ( neither of which hold much interest to me) - ive yet to hear a convincing argument for these changes- there is already a requirement to put back the small ones, so this just duplicates things- and if it's because they don't think people are doing that, then it's an enforcement issue- in which case deal with that, not create a whole new set of rules.
While I'm not for duplicating rules etc, it matters not that we don't like the law. The escape ring is to allow undersize crab to leave without damage that comes from handling - many lose claws etc when being removed from traps.

No one liked the seat belt law when it came in, but now I feel naked if I don't wear one....and there is a reason behind them...just like the escape rings.
 
Jolly Goods were being sold in spades at the Sidney Boat Show today. I forgot about these new regs while I was chatting with the lady behind the desk.

I reached out to them a couple of weeks ago to give them the heads up on this as they weren't aware. They are working on a retrofit kit for the traps now. Looks like this caught a lot of folks off guard. The marine supply store in PoCo I was in on the weekend was surprised to hear that they were no longer compliant.
 
More regulation for the sake of the regulators. Pat themselves on the back for the amazing contribution they are making to crab fishing. Complete waste of oxygen.
 
Id rather they go after the commercial poachers. How many threads have we seen on dumped crab, or traps with out bouys. Go after the people that are the problem, not the 95 percent who follow the rules.
 
Brainstorming with the old man today about the new regs. We use the cheap butt $30 square traps from your local gear shack, we thought about doing some cutting on the trap to make it legal, but he suggested just removing a door and putting the rot cord there instead. Maybe make a few extra laps around the door opening as well as I'm sure those crafty creatures would work through the rot cord eventually. Hell they ain't gonna go away if one door is closed anyways, they'll find another way in. Thoughts?
 
Brainstorming....we thought about doing some cutting on the trap to make it legal, but he suggested just removing a door and putting the rot cord there instead....I'm sure those crafty creatures would work through the rot cord eventually. Hell they ain't gonna go away if one door is closed anyways, they'll find another way in. Thoughts?
Easy & sounds legal.
 
I think one of the main reasons for these new regs is actually because of the poachers. so many traps are being poached these days and just chucked back somewhere else, people also don't weight them enough in bigger current areas and they drift off, people think they lose them or were stolen but many I'm sure have just been lifted poached and dumped a ways away. at least it gives the crabs a better chance to get out in these cases when these traps sometimes sit for weeks plus in the future illegal crab fishers will be easier to bust as they most likely won't adapt the traps they do have. I really don't think this new reg is out to screw anyone who crabs legally, sure it is a bit of a hassle but if more crabs can get away it's worth it imho.
 
Brainstorming with the old man today about the new regs. We use the cheap butt $30 square traps from your local gear shack, we thought about doing some cutting on the trap to make it legal, but he suggested just removing a door and putting the rot cord there instead. Maybe make a few extra laps around the door opening as well as I'm sure those crafty creatures would work through the rot cord eventually. Hell they ain't gonna go away if one door is closed anyways, they'll find another way in. Thoughts?
Your solution needs to ensure there are 2 escape rings that are 105mm in diameter to allow small crabs to exit before they get consumed by the larger ones or lose claws etc. The larger crabs quickly cannibalize the small guys. There are reasons behind the regulation change, so when retrofitting traps we need to keep those in mind. Its not about having traps ghost fish although having escape rings does help.
 
A simple solution for the cheap box traps which I use would be to source a 105mm stainless ring, cut out a square in the trap and secure this ring in place of that square with rot cord.
 
A simple solution for the cheap box traps which I use would be to source a 105mm stainless ring, cut out a square in the trap and secure this ring in place of that square with rot cord.

I used zip ties. Seems solid enough.
 
Out of curiosity I see some comments above about leaving traps out overnight or for multiple days, I'm new to crabbing and could well be wrong but thought I read in the regs you cannot trap crabs 1hr after sundown or earlier than 1hr before sunrise? I assumed this was so as to not entangle props of boats navigating at night...
 
Yes Mark you're right that's changed in the past few years but I don't think it has much to do with navigation hazards more like making it more difficult for poachers to work at night.

And leaving traps out too long just means they all find the way out-across a tide change is lots of time.
 
Out of curiosity I see some comments above about leaving traps out overnight or for multiple days, I'm new to crabbing and could well be wrong but thought I read in the regs you cannot trap crabs 1hr after sundown or earlier than 1hr before sunrise? I assumed this was so as to not entangle props of boats navigating at night...

Unless something has changed that I am not aware of, my understanding is that this was limited to very specific areas only which are close to Vancouver. The link below is t0 DFO's website.

http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/includes/Night_closure_area.jpeg
 
A simple solution for the cheap box traps which I use would be to source a 105mm stainless ring, cut out a square in the trap and secure this ring in place of that square with rot cord.

My thought as well.

Just spent an hour on the internet looking for stainless or nylon rings. No luck.

Anybody got a source for these yet?

Thanks

Easydoesit
 
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