Sick and tired of losing gear to commercial Crab traps in Sooke ?

[gon fishin]

I decided today to phone Coast Guard to complain about commercial floats that are below the water during faster flowing tides as they are a hazard to navigation .The crabbers were supposed to give the sport fishermen a corridor meaning no traps in deeper than 80 feet of water But they believe that they own the ocean and have told others that is the case.The crabbers from Vancouver are the ones that are not following the crab corridor. I was told to call dfo I have put a call into the hot line and was told that someone would call. i only lost $100 worth of gear yesterday in the fog But I'm sure I'm not the only one.If any one else has stories to share I would love for you to post , as I will have more info to share with DFO when (if) they call The area in question is between Otter and Sherringham If enough people complain the may be restricted to beyond Sherrinham They could have followed their corridor for just a few months but greed always takes over

I believe that some rec fishermen have been cutting the floats off the traps that they are getting tangled up in as I have seen some of them float by in the fog and this just makes the crabbers more aggressive

 

[SpringVelocity]

I lost all my gear but that was before Otter. Cannonballs and gear Was at tin shed at 80 feet of water...Floats were submerged.... There are tons of them there...
Also last month off Muir one submerged but had one cannonball and it was recovered but gear was gone.. Again it was submerged... Same day another boat ran over one and had to cut line to get kicker free... Now when even see one I don't go in there tight to shore anymore...

 

[Seagirt]

I had not heard about the corridor/80' max crab trap depth. Is there a reference you can provide for this please? Yup, there are crab traps where there didn't used to be. I've noticed a few guys struggling to get their gear off them and I've had to thread my way thru them in places I've never had to before. This has caused me to fish deeper than I normally would have.

 

[gon fishin]

There was a map at the crab shack that I looked at Some of the local guys have moved their traps and have added extra floats but the Vietnamese guys from Vancouver just don't care I believe they are moving from this area next year So there is always hope.
There is always 2 floats on each string

 

[Rockfish]

http://www.sportfishingbc.com/forum/showthread.php?33059-Commercial-Crab-Fishing-Compentency

 

[profisher]

There has been a big increase in the past few weeks in the number of traps between Otter Point and the Tin Shed. Big time. They seem to have moved some out of the waters between Muir and the light. Point No Point is still carpet bombed. I try to only go into the traps while going into the current...that way the rope is on the far side of the float and you are only creeping up on the gear instead of smoking along with the current...coming up to a float ( floating or submerged) and by then you already into the rope as the rope is before the float.