SFAC Victoria & Area Mar. 16/20 Mtg Minutes & Motions Part 1 of 2

Whole in the Water

Well-Known Member
VICTORIA AND AREA SFAC MEETING AREA 19/20 Call – In Conference Call Minutes
Monday March 16, 2020, Start: 7:06pm


Recreational Representatives:
Name Affiliation

Ryan Chamberland, Chairman
Chris Bos, Co-Chairman
Martin Paish, Angler/SFAB Chairman
Tom Cole, Angler, ACS
Tom Davis, Angler
Christopher Miller, Angler
Jerrod Pinder, Angler
Chris Close, Angler
Doug Ferrier, Angler
Gord Allen, Angler
Richard Lake, Angler
Jim Stephen, Angler

Government Attendees:
Name Affiliation

Erika Watkins DFO
Mia Cormier DFO

Adoption of Minutes
Moved Ryan Chamberland seconded by Martin Paish passed unanimously.

Fraser Chinook
DFO reported about letter of March 2nd sent out – DFO will roll over 2019 regs starting
April 1st. Our area under catch and release until July 14 or 31 dependent on FMA.
Explained regulations to those on call. Interim measures and a full review underway.
Feed back to SFAB for their proposal.
- Ideas from local SFACs thru to SFAB for consideration
- 80 cm in place mid-July to allow fishing but avoiding Fraser Spring and Summer 5-2
- DFO + SFABs working on potential opportunities
Some of 2019 data still not in, will be ready early in-season, this is the challenge – run
reconstructions – adult return estimates, etc. – important tools for planning fisheries.
CHCOWG meeting on 20 Mar for discussions on possible opportunities – also mentioned
small group look at opportunities too. Should have been an in-person meeting but
COVID-19 changed that. Times and areas where a marked selective fishery might be
available and fishing ops where the stocks of concern do not occur are being considered.
SFAB are working very hard to find opportunities for us.

Angler – Area 19 2 different components – can the fisheries in Saanich Inlet be treated
separately there?
Chair – Yes they can be, and that is happening in the Chinook/Coho Working Group.

Angler – Looking at JDF and Haro as international area not just the Canadian side –
when we consider MSF we must include the WA hatchery fish (75,000,000)
Angler asked that this are be looked at and there is no Fraser stocks of concern until
May 15th.
Co-Chair asked two questions on Spring Months Fishery (i) DFO adopt a two-year
management approach and (ii) Why can’t we fish in April – May this year for a hatchery
fish? Conversation between multiple anglers and reps all agreed that both questions
were valid and agreed to the following.

Motion – offline working group for time savings – Tom Davis, Ryan, Chris, Martin to craft
a motion to cover the above.

Chair – We are working hard in other forums to also support the above questions. Chair
having a call with Fisheries Minister over next few weeks.


Angler – heat will come from those who don’t want us to fish especially in JDF. Need to
get foot in the door with MSF for our sector if not we will lose it.
Angler – Certain VI (West Coast) returns in 2019 were below the 4 year average.
Shouldn’t this be considered in our fish planning?
Response; the stocks angler is referring to are not located within the geographical area
of this SFAC.

BIG BAR SLIDE
Last update Mar 13th – DFO hired contractors – three boulders blasted? – moving
forward – still not 100% that the obstruction issue will be resolved by the close of the work window.

SRKW
Chair gave a rundown of his work on the technical committees.
Noted the support and possibility of a 1NM salmon fishing opening between
Sheringham Point and East Point in Renfrew.
Pat Ahern and Ryan responded for the SFAB – see document that was sent out.
Another round of DFO request for input open now – online survey open until Mar 24th.
Ryan proposed a one nautical corridor open area from shore out for the JDF – this was
discussed and seemed acceptable to the Technical Working Group

HALIBUT HYBRID MODEL
Chair ran through the 2020 regulations -
One Halibut Per day;
Possession Limit of 1 Halibut over 90cm to 126cm;
Or, Possession Limit of 2 Halibut under 90 cm.

Angler asked about proposing changes to the halibut guiding principles.
Response; SFAB are seeking feed-back on guiding principles.

Angler asked for a reduction in catch coast-wide to allow more halibut to come into the
Haro and Lower Georgia Strait.
Response; Likely not to happen. Halibut is handled on coast wide basis, not by area.
Too many factors if that is the possible case of lower numbers of halibut in that area, if
there actually even is.

PRAWNS
200 reduced to 125 per day. Prawn letter from DFO explained why. Reconciliation with
FN was the DFO rationale. Now DFO has a department of Reconciliation and FN
partnerships. Martin not satisfied with the responses from DFO as to reason why the
daily catch limit was reduced. This could be a harbinger of what might happen to other
fisheries that would affect coastal communities.

BEST PRACTICES
Best practices are being looked at. Some other groups MCC believe our release
mortality is much higher than DFO is using in their exploitation numbers. WA has
requirement for fish have to stay in water when released. Lot of work going on in the
background to craft a set of principles.

Angler – look for videos of the release mortality by Terry Gjernes, Tom Bird study.
Responses; stems from MCC pushing from FRIMM – UBC studying – Some groups
looking for a ban on ALL catch and release fisheries. Need out of the box thinking and
craft our best ideas into a new set of best practices.

Angler – has DFO said they will accept Greg Taylor’s catch and release document and
use it in fisheries management?
Response; No they will not. They will use existing PST (or PSC not sure which)
methodology and will not use the Patterson study.

COMMERCIAL CRAB TRAPS
Oak Bay area having challenges with commercial gear in the way. Jim Steven will get
letters from locals and work with Chris Bos to craft a motion. Chris suggested this
happen quickly so it can go through the next GFSFWG meeting in April.
*Jim Stephen got back to Ryan Chamberland on March 22, and discussed with Ryan that his
effort to get letters/support from local Oak Bay anglers was not sufficient to pursue for 2020.

Minutes Prepared by: Ryan Chamberland, Chris Bos Meeting Adjourned 8:45 PM –
 
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