[bigjay]

For the first time in a while I looked at the map of RCA and was a little distrubed. When this project started most of the areas were not tradtional salmon fishing areas and relatively small. After looking at the map I see places like Middlenatch Is, Oyster Bay, Deep Water Bay, Menzies Bay and most of the east side of Active Pass all tradtional salmon spot RCA. I would be fine with that if I did not notice this:

Rockfish Conservation Areas


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Recreational

invertebrates by hand picking or dive
crab by trap
prawn by trap
smelt by gillnet

Commercial

invertebrates by hand picking or dive
crab by trap
prawn by trap
scallops by trawl
salmon by seine or gillnet
herring by gillnet, seine and spawn-on-kelp
sardine by gillnet, seine, and trap
smelt by gillnet
euphausiid (krill) by mid-water trawl
opal squid by seine
groundfish by mid-water trawl
Fishing activity not listed above is restricted.

So as a recreational fisher I can drop a trap in these areas, or catch some bait but not fish for salmon. However, if I were a commercial fisher I can tawl for scallops (or scouring the bottom with a rack or nets wrecking it), fish for herring and spawn with seine, seine for salmon, mid water trawl for krill, on and the kicker mid water trawl for ground fish - aka suspended rock fish.

Give me a break. To allow comcerial fishing in these areas is nuts. Why have them? And if the comercial fishing is allowed because of minimal by-catch, why can't I fish for salmon there?

Have fun, Jason

PS: I don't hate rockfish.

 

[tsweet129]

I know i just read the same thing and was thinking the same...what a joke...how many rockfish have you hooked while fishing salmon....

 

[archer961]

I agree, it is ridiculous. Another overly restrictive rule to make up for lack of proper management of the peole who do the damage......

 

[kaitlyn]

how about this? west bay, Gambier Island, Rockfish Conservation area, nobody fishes there, oh, wait, except for the 20 or 30 seals... ??? good luck with the conservation!

 

[tsweet129]

good place for prawn though.... :happy:

 

[bigjay]

Seals harvest very selectively... not once has one taken a rock fish or ling off my hook. Ground fish aren't good enough for them.
have fun, Jason

 

[TheBigGuy]

I totally agree the RCA's have gotten a little bit of a pain to the Salmon fishers. I used to fish outside of Active pass regularly for Salmon. It was one of the best areas in the Gulf Islands for trolling, now closed for an RCA. One of the other things I find really annoying as a troller is the way they have blocked many trolling pathways between destinations. On a nice lazy day sometimes I just feel like tossing out some lines and cruising slowly to wherever my destination. Locally you can no longer cruise while fishing between Horseshoe bay and PT. Atkinson, now closed to RCA. You can't cruise and fish between Saltspring and Galiano Island or Saltspring and Provost Island. My parents have a place on Saltspring so I find this very annoying. I also like to fish around Telegraph cove. The closures in that area have multiplied out of control. For some reason they felt it necessary to extend an RCA from Weynton Passage to the tip of Donnegal Head. Now you can't troll from Mitchel Bay around to the backside of Malcolm Island because the boundry was drawn to the tip of Malcolm Island. As a troller this drives me crazy when I have to pick up all my lines, and run because the DFO has closed the natural travel ways between Islands to fishing.

I'm all for protecting rockfish, but perhaps the DFO should consider the boundaries more carefully. Unless their ultimate goal is to make the whole Strait one big RCA....hmmmmm...........