Georgia Str8 Lingcod/Rockfish June 1

[SIR]

Had a chat with the DFO lads and they are planning to send out a notice in May for a June 1st opening for Lingcod and Rockfish in the Georgia str8 as per last year.

I think there is actually a LOT of folks out there that don't realize that they closed Rockfish when they closed Lingcod last fall...

 

[Highliner]

I've always thought that the DFO should offer an email service where people could sign up and receive any updates or notices in their area automatically. Wouldn't that help?

 

[dohboy]

you used to be able to get updates automatically from the bcoutdoors magazine site havent looked recently

 

[Pablo2079]

I assume areas 28 and 29 will still be closed.... right?

 

[eaglemaniac]

http://www-ops2.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/x...cfm?pg=search_options&lang=en&id=recreational

Here's a dfo rec site that can be helpful. eman

 

[Last Chance]

My $0.02

Just what the demolished rockfish population needs, another opening, come on, lets leave the damn things alone so they can get their decades-long reproductive cycle going. Rockfish returning to a closed site after a just afew years are not "new" rockfish, they just come from somewhere else because they can't reproduce for 20 years, and take 5 or 6 years to get big enough to swallow a sport hook.

 

[SIR]

I think the challenge with closing Rockfish is that for the inside str8 where the salmon runs are spotty you fundamentaly close fishing if you close rockfish.... With rockfish closed you can't fish anything as if you jig anything you catch rockfish...and if you catch rockfish you kill them more often than not...

I think DFO has a pretty good strategy with a LARGE number of HUGE RCA's that cover vaste areas to provide rockfish nurseries scattered all over. With a retention level of one in all the other areas this let's folks get out and do some fishing while providing for the future... Not an ideal solution but ideal solutions are hard when you have stocks that are so low to begin with.

I do have to say that I'm pretty happy with this policy other than the commercial seine fishing activities that are allowed in RCA's... that one does not make a lot of sense to me as I would assume that by-catch when seining for squid/fin fish is going to be huge... rather defeating the purpose... The other major peave is the lack of publication of the RCA's, they should be part of the regs as I watch tourists fish in RCA's all summer long. I actually asked to have a box of the RCA booklets mailed to me so I could hand them out as we do tours all summer. So what did the gov do, mail me a big box of CD's, sigh....

Not sure about 28/29 (I was self-centered and only asked about 15) if they do what they did last year it would open for Rock but stay closed for Ling but I wouldn't lay bets until the notice comes out.

 

[Pablo2079]

I agree with avoiding the Rockfish.... seems like we should just hang up the fishing rods in the Southern Strait. [V]

 

[SIR]

Before going there close commercial dredging for shrimp and scallops... I'd be shocked if the commercial by catch from those activities was not hugley in excess of the sport catch in our area. There just is not that much recreational fishing pressure in these more remote areas... For shrimp picture large very fine nets dredging EVERYTHING on the bottom, scallops are a little better due to the tickler chains but still a dredge activity with bycatch.

Don't assume offering up our sport fishing rights on a platter will help solve the problem without corresponding initiatives on the commercial side. If they closed commercial fishing in the str8 I could live with closed recreational. It's just when recreational closes and commercial keeps going I see red... but let's not open that can of worms again.

 

[Paul Burak]

I agree with sir. How much money sports fishing bring in and you only catch 3 or 4 cod how many do the commercial guys take

 

[Eric]

It's pretty hard to have fun with the family (ie kids) when you just want to grab a couple of prawns and crabs, enjoy the weather and then let the kids see what kind of fun can be had with fishing when there is ZERO openings. Lemme grab a rock cod or two for the kids to get hooked on fishing. Maybe the solution is actually applying the law to those that rape the bloody ocean, as opposed to regualting the **** out of rec fishing. I'm already hesitant about getting my kids into hunting, why fishing as well?!?!