Foriegn guides working B.C. waters

Previous post to another thread read:

Last year I ran into some guests I had successfully guided the year before in the Nootka area. I asked where they were fishing this year.
I was told that they hired a guide in thier home state of Washington. They were on thier way to Tahsis.
Whats going on here? After asking around about this activity I found that there is alot of this going on. I thought there was a law about out of country fisherman guiding in Canadian waters. Once again no enforcment. If you look hard enough you can even find advertisments promoting this.

I got some quick response to this post so here it goes. Do people realize the implications of this for local guides not to mention the lost revenue to the economy? The money brought into the province from across the border is very important to the sport fishing industry in B.C. The taxes paid to the government gives sport fishing recognition as a major contributor to the economy. How big is this problem?
 
I saw quite a few of our US neighbours fishing halibut this Spring off Sooke and Victoria waters. It's even more common at Swiftsure. Hey why not? There fishery is open to only a few days of Hali a week! I would do it to, 0 regulations to stop it. I have not even been checked once in 6 years. It does not seem right to me as i know i can't go fishing past the line, but i don't hold it against our US neighbours for doing it.
 
The money brought in is large,over a hundred just for a lisence.Then ya got to go to a restraunt to eat and a motel to sleep.AAAAHHH yes fuel,tackle ad don;t forget the labats blue. and moorage for the week.Priceless cuz ya meet some really cool people.Remember there is no guarantee you'll get a fish,the limits four per person.People go there for the fishing not the fish.Because for 7-8 hundred we can buy more than 4.lol;)
 
I welcome the U.S. fisherman to our waters. I enjoy seeing them here and always have a blast exchanging stories. It’s the guides chartering that I believe hurts our industry. When the income is not being realized by the industry, it hurts us all who support it.
 
I agree I have no problem if a US citizen wants to come up and hire a local guide or bring their own boat, it helps out economy.

But bringing your own guide and shipping salmon home with the intent of going over your limit disgusts me and I wouldn't want to be the poor sap if I got my hands on him.
 
Well I remember this same subject coming up here years ago.

At the time I did some phoning and found out how to proceed.

The thing to do is get as much info as possible on the person working unlawfully.

Name, address, license plate #, description of boat, boat registration # and dates when he was working.

Print it all up neat and tidy with as many details as possible and send to

Investigations Division
203 - 333 Dunsmuir Street
Vancouver BC
V6B 5R4


http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/menu-e.html

Tel.: (604) 666-3203
Fax: (604) 666-4676

If you put it in a Registered Letter</u> someone is sure to notice.

You can do this anonymously as well no worries.

Wonder how to get info on someone like that?

Ask for a business card, a phone number, once you have a name and a town you can track them down on the net.

You might think this is dirty trick well it's no such thing.

People breaking our laws have to realise we're serious-break the same law in the USA and see where you end up![xx(]

I agree to that most visitors we have here from the USA are a great bunch and I'm sure they don't like lawbreakers anymore than you or I do.
 
I now somone working nootka sound as well pretty tight liped ,until we had started snooping and he just said they are my freinds , and the FREINDS just kinda nooded . then two new FREINDS the next day .
 
Nice response Dogbreath.

About 10 years ago when working Tofino, we noticed something similar going on. By contacting the folks you mention, we had a very quick and enthusiastic response from the RCMP, and a resultant quick resolution to the problem.

Remember, illegal guiding is the responsibility of the RCMP - not DFO - so if you see it going on, call the cops, not the Fisheires Officer.

As far as US boats fishing swiftsure is concerned, as long as they have Canadian licenses, its perfectly legal (with the exception of guiding). The same thing goes if you want to fish US waters - all you have to do is buy a license.
 
Thanks for that Dogbreath! Now I know I can do something and that feels good. I to am familiar with the group in Tahsis C.S. describes. They are responsible for screwing the sport fishing industry out of a lot of money. I believe that same group in Tahsis is also responsible for a lot of illegal shipping of fish south. I have heard talk of this activity from other guides in the area.
I am thankful to this forum for helping us bring attention to this issue.
 
w....... marina is full of this. seen it first hand . wonder what that float plane does ??? multy day weigh ins same people , then next week same captian different people ???but the boat is american????? float plain boxes ???? fish shipped 2 smoke houses then smoke houses ship wherever . theres no reason 4 this . no modering . just big loop hole. scottyboy
 
thought we needed a guide 2 fish american waters ????? scotty
 
quote:Originally posted by Mornin Chubby

Thanks for that Dogbreath! Now I know I can do something and that feels good. I to am familiar with the group in Tahsis C.S. describes. They are responsible for screwing the sport fishing industry out of a lot of money. I believe that same group in Tahsis is also responsible for a lot of illegal shipping of fish south. I have heard talk of this activity from other guides in the area.
I am thankful to this forum for helping us bring attention to this issue.

Call Revenue Canada and say that there are people working in Canada without work permits.

Call Transport Canada and report that there are foreign charter boats working in Canadian waters---and they'll be in there in no time flat.

Call Canada Customs and accuse individuals of being in the country illegally.

Call the RCMP, tip them off...

Call DFO and tip them off too..

After you make all these phone calls, then just sit back, and wait......and watch.

:D
 
quote:Originally posted by Mornin Chubby

Thanks for that Dogbreath! Now I know I can do something and that feels good. I to am familiar with the group in Tahsis C.S. describes. They are responsible for screwing the sport fishing industry out of a lot of money. I believe that same group in Tahsis is also responsible for a lot of illegal shipping of fish south. I have heard talk of this activity from other guides in the area.
I am thankful to this forum for helping us bring attention to this issue.

Call Revenue Canada and say that there are people working in Canada without work permits.

Call Transport Canada and report that there are foreign charter boats working in Canadian waters---and they'll be in there in no time flat.

Call Canada Customs and accuse individuals of being in the country illegally.

Call the RCMP, tip them off...

Call DFO and tip them off too..

After you make all these phone calls, then just sit back, and wait......and watch.

:D
 
This is no different than forigen workers in construction or any other industry

I wonder how it works with biz people and truckers - techinacly they are doing the same thing "working" in another country

I know I cannot go into the states with my tools of the trade.

Enforcement is the key biz is being lost to foriegners working in our country assist the authorities to step up enforcement - you guides are loosing biz to forigeners you are the ones in the industry that stand to loose everything. if it goes un checked you will continue to loose more and more.
 
I don’t think the importance of the problem is about losing business. Money being spent not being realized by the industry is the bigger problem. Foreign Guides are booking and paying for their fishing trips out of county. No tax revenue means no recognition from the government for our contribution to the economy. This is also a mater of respect for our laws and the people employed by this industry.
 
Doug From Rodgers Fish Camp near Tahsis writes:

Over the years I have taken up this issue with the DFO on several
occasions. My sources tell me that there are several US individauls operating
out of Tahsis each summer. The same US boats are seen frequently at some of
the hot spots like Ferrer Point that we fish regularily. I was told by DFO
that this is a customs and immigration problem rather than a fisheries problem
as these people are working illegally in Canada. The problem becomes more
difficult to detect when these US operators buy Canadian registered boats. I
do not know what the answer is to this problem as most of these operators are
booking their business in the States before they even get to Canada. I have
never heard of anyone being charged or even questioned about this sort of
activity.......Doug
 
What are the rules on who can get a guide licence? Can a US citizen get a guide licence? What does it cost?
 
Perhaps we also need special catch limits for foreign fishers. This would discourage the multiple trips home by relatives to skirt possession limits. This would also stop the use of commercial smokehouses to get around possession quotas. Some non-resident anglers take hundreds of pounds of fish home with their multiple fish transport shenanigans.

Foreign fishers should be restricted to a two day possession limit within a one month period. An annual quota of eight salmon (4 springs maximum) would seem adequate for a non-resident angler. All salmon and bottom fish caught would be required to be recorded on the license to prevent over retention. We already have special licenses and annual quotas to protect our trophy rainbow fisheries on Kootenay and Shuswap lakes. Perhaps the non-residents should have more restrictions such as those. Hopefully, that may in some small way help prevent our fishery declining to the sad state of their home waters.

Just a thought.
 
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