Two of my family members have had to complete the survey now. One had a one day licence and we got hit up with the Creel Survey that day. On the survey they basically want to know exact details of every fish you caught including undersize and released fish. For released Chinook for example, they then ask if it was Wild, Hatchery, or Unknown, legal size or undersize. If I am releasing a fish, I'd rather get it back in the water than manhandling it to complete a survey accurately. How many of people can go back 40 days to the first of the previous month and remember our exact catch including released fish. How many times do we need to report 1 day of fishing and are they counting it twice via the Creel and Online survey. Fishing should be about going out and enjoying the day, not running a database for DFO, or an outside contractor.
The 2014 Licence now includes a statement:
Provision of Information: The licence holder shall provide accurate information regarding their catch and fishing activities upon request of a Creel Surveyor or an online surveyor, authorities designated under s 61(5) of the Fisheries Act.
I guess that is one of the hidden motivations for "online" licences, tie everyone to an email address, get rid of the paid Creel Survey eventually and throw it back on us to do their job for them.
I do not see that on my 2013 Licence, so heads up for everyone you are expected to report your exact catch for the entire month you fish, broken down by areas. So if you fish 25 and 125 one day, that will be 2 reports for the day. Once you enter your information for a day and submit it, it then pops back up to verify it, so now 4 pages for 1 day. I'm guessing that the easier path for some will be to only report days recorded on the licence, so how accurate is this survey going to be?
The 2014 Licence now includes a statement:
Provision of Information: The licence holder shall provide accurate information regarding their catch and fishing activities upon request of a Creel Surveyor or an online surveyor, authorities designated under s 61(5) of the Fisheries Act.
I guess that is one of the hidden motivations for "online" licences, tie everyone to an email address, get rid of the paid Creel Survey eventually and throw it back on us to do their job for them.
I do not see that on my 2013 Licence, so heads up for everyone you are expected to report your exact catch for the entire month you fish, broken down by areas. So if you fish 25 and 125 one day, that will be 2 reports for the day. Once you enter your information for a day and submit it, it then pops back up to verify it, so now 4 pages for 1 day. I'm guessing that the easier path for some will be to only report days recorded on the licence, so how accurate is this survey going to be?
