FishingBC app NOT legal for recording catch

[Bernard]

Hello everyone,
I have been reading this forum for a while but never posted, probably because I never had anything constructive to add. But this time I do:

I had never been clear as to whether or not recording a chinook/lingcod/halibut in the fishingbc app could replace writing them in ink on a paper license.
I had asked 2 DFO controllers (the usually nice guys checking catch as boat ramps). One said yes, one said no. But both were reasonable and the one who said no told me that if I had declared a chinook/lingcod/halibut and recorded it in the app, he would have let it slide and just informed me that it was not legal.

Fast forward to a month ago, I was fishing in Saanich inlet (my home water) looking for greenling, jigging in 25ft of water 50ft from shore with a 0.75oz jig. My wife and I love greenling but I have never consistently caught them in winter so this year I am making a concerted effort to find them (unsuccessfully so far).
I had noticed a black boat standing still for over an hour several miles out, and didn't give it much tought until the sound of outboards made me raise my eyes again and I saw that said black boat was a large coast guard rib, now 100ft away and coming straight at me. There were 3 people on board, a CG pilot, a CG manager, and a DFO controller, the only guy who spoke to me.
I will skip the details, other than to say that the DFO guy was unfriendly, clearly out to chew some meat, and since I seemed to be the only boat out, I was going to be this meat.
He tried to nail me on 2 fronts: I was fishing for salmon (because that's what everyone does), and my tiny jig with barbed hook was illegal, and I was going to retain chinook (again, because that's what everyone does), and I was at fault again because I didn't have a paper license to record in ink the chinook I was allegedly going to catch and keep.
He had no legal ground on either points, so after wasting my time, the CG time, and dfo's time for over 1/2 hour, he "let me go this time", and just proceeded to go check every crab trap in the bay since there were no other boats around.

He was obnoxious enough that I wanted to check on his facts, and possibly prove him wrong if I ever ran into him again.
So I sent an email to DFO to see if the fishingbc app is a valid way to record chinook/lingcod/halibut catch. Well, turns out he was correct, and we still have to record those catches on a paper license. I copied DFO's answer below for reference.
So for those who were planning on using the fishing bc app to record your catch (as I did), be aware that it is not legal and you can get charged for that.
So I now carry a digital AND a paper copy of my license.

 

[Tighthead]

IFMP Draft states that electronic will be OK this year and paper must be used when no Internet available.

 

[Bernard Mansey]

IFMP Draft states that electronic will be OK this year and paper must be used when no Internet available.

That would be a good thing, but DFO will also have to remove the following from their web site :
"All chinook, lingcod, and halibut catch must be recorded on your licence in ink."

 

[Go.Fish]

thanks for the heads up. I knew that already but good to share.

I could see the adoption of blockchain into an app that would be better than pen and paper. I’ve emailed the Iota foundation about this we’ll see what they say

 

[fish brain]

Listening in to the SFAB area 17 meeting tonight The DFO officer commented on the fishing BC app. They will not accept it as it is considered third party. DFO has an electronic recording app that they will accept because it is published by DFO (so it probably doesn't work) But they will not accept the fishing BC app as a legal recording of your catch.

 

[Bernard Mansey]

Listening in to the SFAB area 17 meeting tonight The DFO officer commented on the fishing BC app. They will not accept it as it is considered third party. DFO has an electronic recording app that they will accept because it is published by DFO (so it probably doesn't work) But they will not accept the fishing BC app as a legal recording of your catch.

Do you know where/how to find this DFO app?

 

[SpringFever552]

Thanks for sharing your experience..
On a side note, try kelp beds for green lings...

 

[coastalmarinesafety]

Hello everyone,
I have been reading this forum for a while but never posted, probably because I never had anything constructive to add. But this time I do:

I had never been clear as to whether or not recording a chinook/lingcod/halibut in the fishingbc app could replace writing them in ink on a paper license.
I had asked 2 DFO controllers (the usually nice guys checking catch as boat ramps). One said yes, one said no. But both were reasonable and the one who said no told me that if I had declared a chinook/lingcod/halibut and recorded it in the app, he would have let it slide and just informed me that it was not legal.

Fast forward to a month ago, I was fishing in Saanich inlet (my home water) looking for greenling, jigging in 25ft of water 50ft from shore with a 0.75oz jig. My wife and I love greenling but I have never consistently caught them in winter so this year I am making a concerted effort to find them (unsuccessfully so far).
I had noticed a black boat standing still for over an hour several miles out, and didn't give it much tought until the sound of outboards made me raise my eyes again and I saw that said black boat was a large coast guard rib, now 100ft away and coming straight at me. There were 3 people on board, a CG pilot, a CG manager, and a DFO controller, the only guy who spoke to me.
I will skip the details, other than to say that the DFO guy was unfriendly, clearly out to chew some meat, and since I seemed to be the only boat out, I was going to be this meat.
He tried to nail me on 2 fronts: I was fishing for salmon (because that's what everyone does), and my tiny jig with barbed hook was illegal, and I was going to retain chinook (again, because that's what everyone does), and I was at fault again because I didn't have a paper license to record in ink the chinook I was allegedly going to catch and keep.
He had no legal ground on either points, so after wasting my time, the CG time, and dfo's time for over 1/2 hour, he "let me go this time", and just proceeded to go check every crab trap in the bay since there were no other boats around.

He was obnoxious enough that I wanted to check on his facts, and possibly prove him wrong if I ever ran into him again.
So I sent an email to DFO to see if the fishingbc app is a valid way to record chinook/lingcod/halibut catch. Well, turns out he was correct, and we still have to record those catches on a paper license. I copied DFO's answer below for reference.
So for those who were planning on using the fishing bc app to record your catch (as I did), be aware that it is not legal and you can get charged for that.
So I now carry a digital AND a paper copy of my license.

Sounds like you talked to a creel surveyor at the ramp and a Fishery Officer while jigging. Not sure what a DFO controller is? If you called him a “controller”, maybe that was part of the issue .

 

[Gong Show]

I have been called worse by better people.

 

[Bernard Mansey]

Sounds like you talked to a creel surveyor at the ramp and a Fishery Officer while jigging. Not sure what a DFO controller is? If you called him a “controller”, maybe that was part of the issue .

You are most likely correct about their job definitions; I didn't call the guy any name (not even controller) but I since he was obnoxious from the start, i did ask what he was, to which he just replied DFO, and Coast Guard pointing at the other 2 guys.
This interaction was unexpected in 2 ways:
1- in 25 years of saltwater fishing, from ECVI to the offshore side of Swiftsure bank and further, I have met quite a few DFO guys. 100% of them were polite and professional, and the vast majority were actually really nice to talk to. This latest guy was the first DFO employee I met who was obnoxious.

2- sometimes in the late 90s, I went to Swiftsure bank for the first time, and I had never fished for salmon anywhere else since (until an accident a few years ago left me permanently disabled and unable to fish offshore). On those many trips offshore, I was controlled several times by the same "setup" and "group", aka a large, black, offshore ready military style RIB with 3 people on board, 1 DFO, 1 pilot and 1 manager/officer, the pilot and officer in full black commando style outfit. However, I had never seen them on the ECVI, never mind Saanich inlet (and I prawn/crab/bottom fish here all the time since I live in Mill bay).
I actually asked the guy if it was a new thing to do inshore controls with such an oversize setup. That was obviously a stupid question on my part and I received the snarly reply I should have expected. Dumb me.

 

[Bernard Mansey]

Thanks for sharing your experience..
On a side note, try kelp beds for green lings...

Thanks for the tip SpringFever552, and from my experience in other areas you are absolutely correct.
The small hiccup is that on the west side of Saanich inlet, there is virtually no kelp, other than a couple of tiny shallow patches around hatch point (and my disabilities now limit my possible range to a few miles from Mill bay)
I have found decent numbers of white spotted greenling and a few kelp greenling around rock piles in the summer in Mill bay, however I have caught zero over the winter. I have tried shallower, deeper, rocky, sandy areas to no avail so far.
If anyone knows what greenling do in winter, i am very interested.

 

[JuBy]

Starting in 2021/2022 the DFO online recording will be in the NRLS website (your online portal where you go to buy/reprint your license) on the left hand side of the tab select the record your catch tab. You can input your catch there. This will ONLY work if you have cell coverage to access while fishing. If you are fishing in a no cell zone best practices would be have a paper copy and immediately record it. Worth noting is if you fish different areas and are doing a mix of online catch log and paper license for when out of cell phone zone you need to ensure both copies of your catch records are up to date. The officer will be going off which ever license and catch log you produce during the check

 

[fish brain]

Do you know where/how to find this DFO app?

I do not as I have only just heard about it. @JuBy has posted what appears to be a screen shot of the dfo site. perhaps he knows more.

 

[Corey_lax]

Do you know where/how to find this DFO app?

Its just called FishingBC. Just search for it in the App Store on an iPhone or wherever an android phone gets its apps

 

[Bernard Mansey]

Starting in 2021/2022 the DFO online recording will be in the NRLS website (your online portal where you go to buy/reprint your license) on the left hand side of the tab select the record your catch tab. You can input your catch there. This will ONLY work if you have cell coverage to access while fishing. If you are fishing in a no cell zone best practices would be have a paper copy and immediately record it. Worth noting is if you fish different areas and are doing a mix of online catch log and paper license for when out of cell phone zone you need to ensure both copies of your catch records are up to date. The officer will be going off which ever license and catch log you produce during the check

Perfect, thanks JuBy. I will play with it to see what's easier on my small boat: trying to keep a paper license dry, or looking for an internet connection.

DFO is a classic governmental organization where an urge to control overshaddows rational decisions: for the average cheater, messing with self-printed paper licenses is significantly easier than trying to override software locks and safety processes. Yet DFO still favors the paper licenses because they don't have 100% control over third party developed software.
The fishingBC app has the perfect workflow, where it allows offline recording, but it downloads new regs and uploads new records when internet becomes available. But DFO doesn't own/control it, so that makes it untrustworthy of course.

 

[Bernard Mansey]

Its just called FishingBC. Just search for it in the App Store on an iPhone or wherever an android phone gets its apps

Hi Corey,
Well, no. That's the whole point of this thread. If you look at the attachment on my original post, you will see an email reply I received from DFO stating clearly that the FishingBC app is NOT a legal way to record your catch.
In this first post, I also recount a situation where, while I was fishing, I was challenged by a grumpy DFO officer for not having a paper copy of my license, even though I had not retained any fish.