US Coastguard/RCMP Checks.

Doug

Doug

Well-Known Member
We fished about a ¼ mile off shore from the flag pole in Victoria yesterday. About 10 am we noticed a large (40 ft) aluminum vessel coming out of Victoria harbour and heading toward the 8 fishing boats out front of the harbour. It got about and 1/8 mile away and then it started head towards us. As it got closer we could see it was US Coastguard patrol boat. It pulled up beside us and there were 4 people on the vessel, three dressed in red and one guy in black. The guy in black came out on deck and said he was an RCMP officer and they would like to board us and check us out. Once they got closer to the 18 ft boat we were on they opted to just tie up and not come aboard. . They identified them selves as US/Canadian patrol and they asking us for photo ID, registration, fishing licenses, boat operators card, home phone numbers and started going through all of our safety gear required for an 18 ft boat. We had everything they were looking for except for not having a boarding ladder. While being checked out for safety gear, we could see the RCMP officer on the phone, calling in and checking out our IDs. They never checked out any of our fishing gear.

They said that they will be doing more patrols of recreational fisherman. I asked, were is their moorage and they informed us that the patrol board runs over from Port Angeles in the morning and picks up the RCMP officer, do their checks, drop the RCMP officer off and head back to Port Angeles.

After being checked out for 30 + minutes they departed and drove past all the other boats and back into Victoria harbour.

It sure seams like a massive cost in fuel, operating expenses and a staff of 4 to check out recreational fishing boats. It’s probably related to the 1st nations request for the Government to have more enforcement on the recreational fisherman. We ended up with a warning ticket with every detail on it.
 
Doug said:
We fished about a ¼ mile off shore from the flag pole in Victoria yesterday. About 10 am we noticed a large (40 ft) aluminum vessel coming out of Victoria harbour and heading toward the 8 fishing boats out front of the harbour. It got about and 1/8 mile away and then it started head towards us. As it got closer we could see it was US Coastguard patrol boat. It pulled up beside us and there were 4 people on the vessel, three dressed in red and one guy in black. The guy in black came out on deck and said he was an RCMP officer and they would like to board us and check us out. Once they got closer to the 18 ft boat we were on they opted to just tie up and not come aboard. . They identified them selves as US/Canadian patrol and they asking us for photo ID, registration, fishing licenses, boat operators card, home phone numbers and started going through all of our safety gear required for an 18 ft boat. We had everything they were looking for except for not having a boarding ladder. While being checked out for safety gear, we could see the RCMP officer on the phone, calling in and checking out our IDs. They never checked out any of our fishing gear.

They said that they will be doing more patrols of recreational fisherman. I asked, were is their moorage and they informed us that the patrol board runs over from Port Angeles in the morning and picks up the RCMP officer, do their checks, drop the RCMP officer off and head back to Port Angeles.

After being checked out for 30 + minutes they departed and drove past all the other boats and back into Victoria harbour.

It sure seams like a massive cost in fuel, operating expenses and a staff of 4 to check out recreational fishing boats. It’s probably related to the 1st nations request for the Government to have more enforcement on the recreational fisherman. We ended up with a warning ticket with every detail on it.
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could you imagine if they did that on the river systems.. it would be like "shooting fish in a barrel" for sure
 
I fish out of Victoria Harbour and I was checked 6 times last summer by a big inflateable,twice with lights flashing as I was running in from Constance.The first time I was missing a couple of things,fire extinguisher out of date,no throwing line.I was given a warning and told to get what I needed.Most times they just wanted to do the safety check,but a couple of times they checked my fishing license ,catch and barbed(not) hooks.They were always friendly and professional ,but I wished they recognized me after the 4th time and moved on to someone else.
 
They didn't give me the " passing " ticket as they said they don't do that anymore but next time i get checked to tell them the date i was checked as i am in there system now. Saw them in Renfrew last summer and heard they weren't giving out fines but just warning tickets which i thought was good of them.
 
kingblazer84 said:
could you imagine if they did that on the river systems.. it would be like "shooting fish in a barrel" for sure
Click to expand...

Checking boats on the lower Fraser, FN boats??? In the event that were to happen, I suspect some senior level politicians would be peeing themselves at the thought of demands for the removal of RCMP vessels and vehicles from more traditional territory and new blockades and protests for harassing them in the exercise of their constitutionally protected rights.
 
Had similar "inspection visit" 4 years ago on North Island crossing QCI straight, returning with a GBear, BBear, hali, guns and all fishing/camping equipment from a 2 week hunt/fishing trip, must admit boat was a bloody mess. The RCMP Officer then had a real attitude issue, wanted paperwork from gun registry that did not exist. Took us lots of explaining and him not understanding, finally his want of none existing paperwork ended when CO requested his supervisor by radio. This ultimately allowed us to continue across, we were NOT asked or registration to hull number was never an issue then??

Had the same check last March anchored on Constance, "multi national joint operation with multiple departments" is what they told me when 3 climbed on my 18.6 DE. US Coast Guard, US DFO?, Cnd DFO, RCMP. Learned a couple things, green go on fire extinguisher must also have Canadian valid date, mine was too old, and your hull # must match your registration, address and particulars. Got a warning for that, as mine was still registered to someone 3 sales earlier?? Done now. Was explained it was a safety issue, when hulls are found they can trace back to real owner, really its Gov way of grabbing more tax $$$.

Vic inspection all officers were very friendly, explained all they did and overall their visit was a good experience. Wish they would spend as much time, energy and money on looking in the correct places for the real abusers of our resources.

HM
 
Doug said:
We fished about a ¼ mile off shore from the flag pole in Victoria yesterday. About 10 am we noticed a large (40 ft) aluminum vessel coming out of Victoria harbour and heading toward the 8 fishing boats out front of the harbour. It got about and 1/8 mile away and then it started head towards us. As it got closer we could see it was US Coastguard patrol boat. It pulled up beside us and there were 4 people on the vessel, three dressed in red and one guy in black. The guy in black came out on deck and said he was an RCMP officer and they would like to board us and check us out. Once they got closer to the 18 ft boat we were on they opted to just tie up and not come aboard. . They identified them selves as US/Canadian patrol and they asking us for photo ID, registration, fishing licenses, boat operators card, home phone numbers and started going through all of our safety gear required for an 18 ft boat. We had everything they were looking for except for not having a boarding ladder. While being checked out for safety gear, we could see the RCMP officer on the phone, calling in and checking out our IDs. They never checked out any of our fishing gear.

They said that they will be doing more patrols of recreational fisherman. I asked, were is their moorage and they informed us that the patrol board runs over from Port Angeles in the morning and picks up the RCMP officer, do their checks, drop the RCMP officer off and head back to Port Angeles.

After being checked out for 30 + minutes they departed and drove past all the other boats and back into Victoria harbour.

It sure seams like a massive cost in fuel, operating expenses and a staff of 4 to check out recreational fishing boats. It’s probably related to the 1st nations request for the Government to have more enforcement on the recreational fisherman. We ended up with a warning ticket with every detail on it.
Click to expand...

A boarding ladder required on an 18 foot boat?...………….https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/marinesafety/tp-tp14659-safetyequipment-3018.htm
 
The boarding ladder requirement has nothing to do with vessel length. It has to do with the vessels freeboard measurement. If it's more that 1 ft 8 inches then you need a re boarding ladder.
 
Curious so if your in Canadian waters and US Coastguard pulls up with rcmp on-board do you have to let the US Coastguard board? I can understand letting the RCMP board but US Coastguard??
 
I got stopped by these guys in Sidney Channel last year and their line of questioning was ridiculous. They literally asked if we had been dumping bodies and if we had seen anything strange....... in Sidney Channel....... He asked my friend if she thought I might be a murderer. The supersleuth that boarded my vessel made sure to point out that my fishing licence expired soon (this was in March of last year I believe). He spent 20 or 30 mins on board seemingly with no real purpose other than to harass us. The whole time I was watching my starboard side rod hoping it went off. (it didnt)
 
The last time I was checked at sea was in a buddies boat off Victoria by a smaller RCMP Marine Unit boat. They were very professional and friendly, no power trips and asked us to pull our fishing gear on one side so they could tie up. They were only interested in safety gear. We passed everything except they did not think the Maglight was waterproof to count as our signalling device and gave us a warning on it. As they are o ring sealed and Maglight has tested them to meet standards for waterproof immersion at one meter for 30 minutes, they were wrong although some old models may only be water resistant. I always understood they are water proof but know better than to argue with police in that kind of situation, - that never goes well.

In general I don't have a problem with checks for safety equipment and it is a good reminder to keep your flares and fire extinguishers etc up to date. Interesting that they say they plan to increase their checks of sport fishing boats and from what has been reported are building a surveillance database of small boats and those who use them in our waters so these checks feed the surveillance state. Boats being checked 6 times for safety gear in a summer seems like we are already in overkill and I suspect that small boat anglers on south VI are the most checked boats on the coast if not the country so what is prompting this announcement that even more checks are coming?

Fishing licenses and the operators operating certificate and the boats registration are one thing but are we required by law to give them additional information such as home phone numbers and car drivers licenses when they ask for it on the water in a small boat?

Have to say being checked by our own small RCMP boats is one thing, but there is something that does not sit well with larger US para military gun boats being used to check small boat anglers with their fishing gear down in Canada close to shore even if they do have a Canadian on board. As I understand it, after 911 the US went crazy with concerns about security and we have a US pushed agreement with them that Canada can place officers on their boats and they can place theirs on ours and patrol in each others waters and pursue fleeing boats over the boarder etc. But It was always my understanding this program was for security purposes such as boats running guns and drugs and most importantly stopping potential terrorists from bypassing customs and getting into the US. How did it evolve from that to what it has become with this massive overreach if not outright abuse. Perhaps that is a question opposition MP's should be asking in the House during question period.
I will leave it to US taxpayers to decide if it is a good use of their dollars to have a large US boat come all the way over for the purpose of checking one small boat towing hootchies off the Victoria breakwater that may well have been checked for safety gear many times before. Perhaps they would like to get out west and check on the Washington state sport boats that come into Canadian waters to fish for Halibut and Salmon.
 
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Last spring I earned the green piece of paper pass. I have everything ready to show to them. Friendly and all but they took about 20 mins. , which was about 15 mins. longer than I wanted to be in the little boat where we were. We were actually heading in at the time.
 
Chasin' Dreams said:
The boarding ladder requirement has nothing to do with vessel length. It has to do with the vessels freeboard measurement. If it's more that 1 ft 8 inches then you need a re boarding ladder.
Click to expand...

If you have a rope long enough that it it fits and can be tied from bow to stern with a bow in it so that it can be pushed down by hand and stepped on to push you up and over the side is that sufficient as a re-boarding device? If you have a swim grid or a large pod that is at or just above the waterline that you can slide onto and climb over the transom is that sufficient? If you have a large outboard that can be turned off so that you can step on the cavitation plate and step into the splash well is that sufficient? I have all these but bought a collapsible ladder anyway because I did not want to have that discussion when we get checked.

I have wondered about fire extinguishers. There are two types, the ones that that can be refilled and the ones that are one use only and disposable. The refillable ones need a valid check date tag but the non refillable are good for x number of years from the marked date of manufacture. Any issues if you use the disposable type with out a tag as long as you are in its date range from manufacture or must you use the checked and tagged refillable type?
 
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Rockfish said:
If you have a rope long enough that it it fits and can be tied from bow to stern with a bow in it so that it can be pushed down by hand and stepped on to push you up and over the side is that sufficient as a re-boarding device? If you have a swim grid or a large pod that is at or just above the waterline that you can slide onto and climb over the transom is that sufficient? I have both but bought a collapsible ladder anyway because I did not want to have that discussion when we get checked.

I have wondered about fire extinguishers. There are two types, the ones that that can be refilled and the ones that are one use only and disposable. The refillable ones need a valid check date tag but the non refillable are good for x number of years from the marked date of manufacture. Any issues if you use the the disposable type with out a tag as long as you are in its date range from manufacture or must you use the checked and tagged refillable type?
Click to expand...

https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/marinesafety/tp-menu-515-4377.html
 
Certainly not arguing CD but that link is to non pleasure craft do all the same rules apply to pleasure craft.

Compliance Guide For Human-Powered Non-Pleasure Vessels - TP 15204
 
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