Fisheries and Oceans Canada makes improvement to recreational fisheries reporting in B.C.

wildmanyeah

Crew Member
https://www.canada.ca/en/fisheries-...-fisheries-reporting-in-bc-sport-fishing.html

Fisheries and Oceans Canada makes improvement to recreational fisheries reporting in B.C. sport fishing
From: Fisheries and Oceans Canada

News release
April 9, 2019

Ottawa, ON - Recreational fishing is an important part of British Columbia’s culture, economy and identity. Sport fishing is also part of the broader recreation and tourism sectors and is a major contributor to local economies. Collecting reliable and timely catch data also helps keep Canada’s fisheries sustainable.

That is why the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson announced today that recreational harvesters who catch and retain lingcod or chinook salmon will soon be able to record their catch electronically. This gives harvesters more flexibility when recording catches of lingcod or chinook salmon and brings the regulations in line with current technology. Harvesters will be able to report catches electronically to DFO next season.

Stronger catch reporting and fisheries monitoring is a national priority for Fisheries and Oceans Canada. We are committed to developing and deploying fisheries management tools that move us away from paper-based reporting towards a modern system that will help ensure continued access to the resource for future generations.

Quotes
“Collecting reliable and timely catch data that is accessible helps keep Canada’s fisheries sustainable. In today’s world, technology and innovation are essential elements in managing our fisheries resources. By making this change we are helping to support the conservation and sustainable use of British Columbia’s fish stocks. We are opening the door to leveraging technology so that recreational harvesters can submit their data in real-time from anywhere.”

The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson
Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard

Quick facts
  • Amendments to section 22 of the British Columbia Sport Fishing Regulations were published in the Canada Gazette, Part II on April 3, 2019. As a result, harvesters will soon be able to record their catch permanently in an approved electronic database instead of on a paper licence.

  • Fisheries and Oceans Canada is committed to the delivery and accessibility of information in formats that are client-focused, technology-enabled, and financially sustainable.

  • With electronic catch data, DFO can receive data more quickly and in a more accessible format that is more complete and accurate than with paper-based reporting.

  • DFO requires that licence holders for tidal waters sport fishing provide information on their recreational fishing activity and catch to DFO representatives when requested.

  • Recreational harvesters who catch and retain halibut, lingcod or chinook salmon will soon be able to record their catch electronically.

  • Permanently recording halibut catch on a fishers licence continues to be a requirement under the conditions of licence for halibut. Licence conditions will be adjusted to permit permanent electronic reporting for halibut catch, and harvesters will be notified when that happens.

  • British Columbia's free tidal waters (saltwater) sport fishing app, was launched in 2017 by the Sport Fishing Institute of BC in partnership with Fisheries and Oceans Canada and supported by the Pacific Salmon Foundation.
 
Link to Gazette http://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p2/2019/2019-04-03/pdf/g2-15307.pdf

Regulations Amending the British Columbia Sport Fishing Regulations, 1996 (Miscellaneous Program)
Amendment

1 Section 22 of the British Columbia Sport Fishing Regulations, 199631 is replaced by the following:

22 A licence holder who catches and retains a lingcod or a chinook salmon shall immediately record the catch on the licence or, if a record can be made in a catch registry kept by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, in that registry.

22.1 The licence holder shall not alter the record made under section 22.

Description and rationale

Section 22 of the BCSFR is amended to allow for the use of an electronic registry to record recreationally caught and retained lingcod and chinook salmon. The new method of recording the catch will be allowed, under section 22 of the BCSFR, in addition to the traditional recording of retained catch by harvesters on their paper recreational fishing licences. Additionally, section 22.1 of the BCSFR is added to reflect the intent that both the paper and the electronic record be unalterable.

This minor regulatory amendment brings section 22 in line with current technology. The amendment gives recreational harvesters in British Columbia the flexibility to continue to record the number of caught and retained lingcod or chinook salmon on their paper licence; or to record their catch electronically in the catch registry. The catch registry is part of the “Fishing BC” electronic application, a collaborative development by DFO, the Sport Fishing Institute and the Pacific Salmon Foundation. This amendment is supported by the British Columbia Sport Fishing Advisory Board, representing some 320 000 recreational harvesters, and the Sport Fishing Institute, representing lodge owners, recreational charters and service providers.
 
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Yup, with real time reporting the closures will be quicker and target any areas left that are productive. As a former area G troller that is exactly what happened to us. DFO loves to use tactics that have been a success in the past. People are dreaming if they think this info will be used to extend seasons or keep areas open, this is just more ammo to close things and bring in more restrictions.
 
I agree it is a good thing when DFO bases their decisions on real data that everyone has full access to. However, not so good when they don't and base their decisions on maximizing political gains between competing user groups, which IMHO they are doing right now with the 2019-20 chinook fishing regs. They have had all the data they need to make a decision by April 1 and have not and have failed to say when they will, putting further negative economic impact on the public fishing sector and the local communities that rely on this sector.

IMHO the reason they haven't is because the PM's office is weighing out the political implications different management options on various user groups and how it will affect their re-election chances in the election this fall.

Hopefully this better data collection will benefit us in the future - but only if we can reduce the political influence in DFO management decisions. The current DFO minister keeps saying that he will base his decisions upon scientific data - so collecting better data can help with this - but I feel we will need to hold him to this as much as we can. My 2 bits.
 
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Okay, this sounds like a useful tool to monitor and manage Fisheries, I'll give it that.

As Onefish pointed out it is also a tool that can be used against a sector.

If it is as wonderful as the (gushing) news release from DFO/FOC states, will it be applied across ALL user groups?
 
Okay, this sounds like a useful tool to monitor and manage Fisheries, I'll give it that.

As Onefish pointed out it is also a tool that can be used against a sector.

If it is as wonderful as the (gushing) news release from DFO/FOC states, will it be applied across ALL user groups?

why would you need to apply it across all user groups, commercial already pays thousands of dollars each trip to a third party to independently verify their catch. FSC and S.35 rights give First Nation though Supreme court litigated results the right to self manage/self report. I don't agree with the way FSC fisheries are handled but I also can't see a path that this can be addressed. I think the Department itself could approve on how this information is share and accounted for.

The public fishery was lacking and this will help
 
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why would you need to apply it across all user groups, commercial already pays thousands of dollars each trip to a third party to independently verify their catch. FSC and S.35 rights give First Nation though Supreme court litigated results the right to self manage/self report. I don't agree with the way FSC fisheries are handled but I also can't see a path that this can be addressed. I think the Department itself could approve on how this information is share and accounted for.

The public fishery was lacking and this will help
Didn't know FN have a "right to self report" vs DFO monitored. I think this is the area where confidence in the process will be achieved.
 
We as a sport fishing community should embrace this and utilize the system to the max. Don’t we all want to know as much as we can about what we catch? IMHO this is a very good step towards our quest to save our beloved species.
 
Now that he has released that news maybe Wilkinson can get to work on the press release on the salmon regulations for 2019....
 
If real time data also includes ALL released juvenile salmon no matter what the size, and all released "others", including all species of "rock" cod, snapper, lings, hali's etc then you might as well sell your boats now. Certain areas on the west coast that are known nursery grounds will be permanently shut down, the swiftsure bank comes to mind.
In good faith we (area G trollers) also thought that giving DFO accurate info would help out the fishery in the long term. It didn't work out that way.

With the current option A or option B choices being wielded by DFO, I find it rather astounding that people are giving DFO the benefit of the doubt that any info gathered will be used in a positive, rather than punitive manner. All I can say is, good luck, in your dealings with DFO and "I told you so".
 
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I like the idea of been able to post real time data, even if that means spot closures in troubled areas, at least the data collected becomes more relevant. If DFO can implement steps to improve the fisheries, then I am for it. Electronic reporting in my opinion is long over due. Last year, my mandatory creel report to DFO was in May. I don't think that one chinook I had on my license was representative of my fishing season, yet that is all the data they received from me. Now, under this system, every time I report, or any other fisher reports, the data adjusts itself in real time.
Our sport fishery is a shared fishery that includes commercial and FN. Commercial already has a reporting system in place. FN, well, that's complicated as it involves treaty agreements, but I do believe they have an entitlement. How they report, I'm not totally sure, and what they report, I'm not sure of the accuracy, but non the less, they are part of the share of chinook salmon. As long as this data collected is used in a way that allows us to harvest, yet protects the stocks, I'm all in.
 
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I like the idea of been able to post real time data, even if that means spot closures in troubled areas, at least the data collected becomes more relevant. If DFO can implement steps to improve the fisheries, then I am for it. Electronic reporting in my opinion is long over due. Last year, my mandatory creel report to DFO was in May. I don't think that one chinook I had on my license was representative of my fishing season, yet that is all the data they received from me. Now, under this system, every time I report, or any other fisher reports, the data adjusts itself in real time.
Our sport fishery is a shared fishery that includes commercial and FN. Commercial already has a reporting system in place. FN, well, that's complicated as it involves treaty agreements, but I do believe they have an entitlement. How they report, I'm not totally sure, and what they report, I'm not sure of the accuracy, but non the less, they are part of the share of chinook salmon. As long as this data collected is used in a way that allows us to harvest, yet protects the stocks, I'm all in.


Area G trollers went into this process with the same optimistic outlook. It has been a one way trend with more and more closed areas combined with less and less time on the water to the point now where a commercial troller is almost a thing of the past. If you think DFO is going to use this data to improve the fishery then you have a lot more faith in DFO than I do.
I predict DFO will use this data to "manage" the rec fishery into the ground the same way they have "managed" the troll industry to the brink of extinction.
 
So, who cares now?
 
Fishing still opens July 15, people will still max out chinoook on their licences this year. It’s just going to be more boats at prime time
 
OneFish is correct and I agree totally with him. The only thing DFO does with information is implement more closures. They've been collecting info from us for over forty years and not one fishery has gotten any better. My cooperation with DFO has ended. They've taken the best fishery in the world and screwed it into the ground. This latest round of closures is a direct result of you guys filling out your creel surveys.
 
OneFish is correct and I agree totally with him. The only thing DFO does with information is implement more closures. They've been collecting info from us for over forty years and not one fishery has gotten any better. My cooperation with DFO has ended. They've taken the best fishery in the world and screwed it into the ground. This latest round of closures is a direct result of you guys filling out your creel surveys.

Wrong.

Abuse of the biosphere has driven this fishery into the ground. Except it hasnt been driven into the ground. Only a few stocks have, and the regulations reflect where we have encountered these stocks in the past.

In actual fact, the data you have provided to observers has lessened the impacts of these closures dramatically.

you cant manage a fishery without data. If refusals go up it may just meanworse restrictions down the line as we see the management of data deficient stocks becomes more conservative.
 
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