Pacific angler prawn/crab limit note

Pearl dog

Active Member
Interesting. Does this mean that taking the wife or a couple kids with licenses is the same thing?



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So when I borrow my buddies prawn trap I can’t keep my catch? That doesn’t seem right sorry.
 
Obviously doesn’t really apply during social distancing right now but when life’s back to normal the easiest way to “play by the rules” is just to bring some duct tape and thick sharpie and write down your buddies name/number on 2 of your 4 sets for example if fishing with 1 friend. Seems like a very difficult one to enforce though imho.
 
So much to learn, thanks Brando. So if I’m out with my wife and son would we be aloud to use our family name. We all have our own licence. I have usually only put my first name and number on my crab traps.
 
So much to learn, thanks Brando. So if I’m out with my wife and son would we be aloud to use our family name. We all have our own licence. I have usually only put my first name and number on my crab traps.

This was my original question. No doubt we can all think of workarounds but I’m wondering how family members apply to this. I know there have been many comments through various threads in the past about licence limits for children coming out fishing. This seems to imply that bringing your 2 year old along doesn’t get you an extra 125 prawns?

I know I was not aware of this interpretation. I thought the licence established the possession limit. Not who’s traps were in a better spot. How does it apply to guide boats? Do guides write everybody’s name on the floats each time?
 
I think you’d have a hard time selling the fisheries officer on the fact that a 2 year old baited set and hauled the traps. You and your wife should be able to fish 8 traps without any issues, duct tape idea is a great solution to changing names.
 
This was my original question. No doubt we can all think of workarounds but I’m wondering how family members apply to this. I know there have been many comments through various threads in the past about licence limits for children coming out fishing. This seems to imply that bringing your 2 year old along doesn’t get you an extra 125 prawns?

I know I was not aware of this interpretation. I thought the licence established the possession limit. Not who’s traps were in a better spot. How does it apply to guide boats? Do guides write everybody’s name on the floats each time?
I know the chovy guys write guests names on tape and stick on floats.
 
I think you’d have a hard time selling the fisheries officer on the fact that a 2 year old baited set and hauled the traps. You and your wife should be able to fish 8 traps without any issues, duct tape idea is a great solution to changing names.

So are you saying that young children accompanying their parents/uncles/grandfather on a day out on the water basically are not entitled to anything unless they can physically prep the trap, bait the traps, drop the traps, haul in the traps, take the crabs/prawns out by themselves? So would this be the same logic and reasoning for bottom fishing? If your son or daughter doesn't have the stamina or strength to reel in a hard fighting fish and if you help them with netting it or partially reeling it in, you have to throw it back? Same thing for salmon fishing? If someone's son or daughter is too young or too inexperienced to know how to use a downrigger with putting the line on the clip, releasing the clip when there's a fish, or netting the fish, then you have to throw it back? Give me a break! If that's the case then there would be some language in their license or on the general adult license indicating this...

I understand that if you have 2 people onboard a boat and if you want set 4 crab traps then 2 of the crab traps have to have buoys labelled in your name and the other 2 has to be in the other person's name to be compliant.... I can even understand and make sense of the rule that if 1 traps gets 8 legal crags then the person who's name is on that buoy gets their daily limit and you are have to throw the other 4 back.... But if you are telling me that if I want to take out my 7 year old nephew and he has a proper license.... that in order for anything that he catches to be "legal" and permissable based on DFO rules, means that I can NOT help him with anything related to any one of these activities including bait the traps, or put the traps together of toss the traps or help with pulling in the buoy and setting it up on the pot puller, or handle the crabs in the traps so that he doesn't get pinched or can't help him setup the clip on the downrigger because the salmon rods are 10.5ft rods and he is too short and not experienced enough to setup the downrigger etc..... If this is the case, are you also saying that every person who gets to keep a large chinook has to bring the fish to the boat with one hand and net the fish with the other hand... and if someone helps net if for you it's not legal? You have got to be kidding.... come on... I can guarantee you there would never be an instance where a DFO officer questions your son/daughter/niece/nephew/grandchildren and asks you.... did you help with setting the trap, pulling up the trap, handle the crab for that 5th and 6th crab? If you helped in any way, it's an illegal catch and I'm going to have to write you up for it...

damn it.... Some of the fishing buddies that I take along on many trips still can't land or fight a fish properly and sometimes I have to hold their hands and coach them in order for them to successfully bring a fish onto the deck of the boat.
 
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Happened to a friend of mine the and his 10 year old kid were out walking the shallows of Tsawwassen for crab the kid spotted pretty much every crab but the dad grabbed it cause the boy was to nervous to grab a crab, there was mr dfo on the beach with a spotting scope watching them they had about a ten minute argument, until said friend fine give me a ticket I’ll see you in court then the dfo changed his mine and gave him a warning

I usually only fish two or three traps so know I will pull get my four get my son to write his name on float drop back down, soon as it hits bottom pull it back up he can get his four and repeat this process over again till my friends and family get there limit or till all the keepers are out of the pots
 
So are you saying that young children accompanying their parents/uncles/grandfather on a day out on the water basically are not entitled to anything unless they can physically prep the trap, bait the traps, drop the traps, haul in the traps, take the crabs/prawns out by themselves? So would this be the same logic and reasoning for bottom fishing? If your son or daughter doesn't have the stamina or strength to reel in a hard fighting fish and if you help them with netting it or partially reeling it in, you have to throw it back? Same thing for salmon fishing? If someone's son or daughter is too young or too inexperienced to know how to use a downrigger with putting the line on the clip, releasing the clip when there's a fish, or netting the fish, then you have to throw it back? Give me a break! If that's the case then there would be some language in their license or on the general adult license indicating this...

I understand that if you have 2 people onboard a boat and if you want set 4 crab traps then 2 of the crab traps have to have buoys labelled in your name and the other 2 has to be in the other person's name to be compliant.... I can even understand and make sense of the rule that if 1 traps gets 8 legal crags then the person who's name is on that buoy gets their daily limit and you are have to throw the other 4 back.... But if you are telling me that if I want to take out my 7 year old nephew and he has a proper license.... that in order for anything that he catches to be "legal" and permissable based on DFO rules, means that I can NOT help him with anything related to any one of these activities including bait the traps, or put the traps together of toss the traps or help with pulling in the buoy and setting it up on the pot puller, or handle the crabs in the traps so that he doesn't get pinched or can't help him setup the clip on the downrigger because the salmon rods are 10.5ft rods and he is too short and not experienced enough to setup the downrigger etc..... If this is the case, are you also saying that every person who gets to keep a large chinook has to bring the fish to the boat with one hand and net the fish with the other hand... and if someone helps net if for you it's not legal? You have got to be kidding.... come on... I can guarantee you there would never be an instance where a DFO officer questions your son/daughter/niece/nephew/grandchildren and asks you.... did you help with setting the trap, pulling up the trap, handle the crab for that 5th and 6th crab? If you helped in any way, it's an illegal catch and I'm going to have to write you up for it...

damn it.... Some of the fishing buddies that I take along on many trips still can't land or fight a fish properly and sometimes I have to hold their hands and coach them in order for them to successfully bring a fish onto the deck of the boat.
I Think we are talking about 2 different scenarios here, Using a 2 years olds license to justify retaining an extra 125 prawns vs helping a kid of any age reel in a fish or helping him hook bait etc should be no issue and actually encouraged that’s what fishing is all about!
 
This is fascinating to me. I consider myself to be a rule follower. To a fault usually... but now perhaps I’m being told I’ve always broken the law. I’m lucky to have a regular fishing buddy. Also, I would say, a rule follower. On a regular basis we would set our crab and prawn traps and then go fishing. Sometimes we would get lucky and catch 4 salmon. Maybe 3 on “my” side and 1 on his. Then we would head off to pull traps. Maybe he got 250 and Then I would keep 150. Then to crab, 5 in one trap. 1 in another 200 yards apart. Sounds like an butt kicker of a day, right? Totally illegal tho? Wow
 
This does not look enforceable at all, I've seen many many people hauling up more than 4 crabs in a trap and keeping them. Also seen video's from some charters where they kept more than 4 out of 1 trap. I'm sure if you asked 95%+ of the people who are crabbing they would keep the crabs over the limit of 4 if they had another licensed person with them.
 
So I went crabbing with my daughter that is married and kept the family name the other day. I only have the family name on the floats. All traps are full we keep and sort out the biggest and retain our limit. If she had changed her name too her husbands are we still legal in our retention?
 
At the end of the day I would like to think the officers would go with what is reasonable, if you are out with your family or a friend and have enough licences for the number of traps thats realistic but if your fishing over your trap number, or don't have them labelled then tickets are worthwhile.
 
I Think we are talking about 2 different scenarios here, Using a 2 years olds license to justify retaining an extra 125 prawns vs helping a kid of any age reel in a fish or helping him hook bait etc should be no issue and actually encouraged that’s what fishing is all about!

I agree these are 2 different scenarios but if DNO chooses to enforce they need to clearly indicate on the license or on the DFO website the clear guidelines as to what can or can not be done with a Juvenile license. Currently the juvenile license states its free for a child under the age of 16. If DFO feels that anyone under the age of 3 for example, should not be entitled to a quota if they are on the boat because they technically are not old enough to partake in the activity, it should state so. Now that being said, I do not know of anyone who would take a 1 or 2 year old out for the sole reason to increase their quota. It's a secondary benefit if someone happens to be onboard with their child but in my experience I rarely see anyone under the age of 2 on a boat loaded with crab/prawning/fishing gear. And if they are it would likely be a rare instances and on a day that was completely calm.
 
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