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[Andyman]

Until re-reading the regulations recently, I had no idea that you could not fish for salmon in rockfish conservation areas! Having said that, I have not ever fished for salmon in a rockfish conservation area… however this year there is a place I was looking at going that is a rockfish conservation area which is why I looked up the regs and found out about this rule. 

I don’t understand this rule as I don’t see how fishing for salmon will affect the bottom feeding rockfish, and what I found even more puzzling is that commercial fishing for salmon is allowed in these areas…just not recreational salmon fishing.  Was DFO thinking that a big net hanging behind a commercial boat is less dangerous than a recreational fisher who maybe sets his line a little too deep and attracts a rockfish?

I am 100% for conservation and I am not a meat fisherman. Strictly sport, so I’m not ignorant to the fact that we need to protect stocks of all species, but I don’t understand why commercial fishing would be allowed in these areas but sport fishing not… especially for a migratory species like salmon where in many of the RCA’s they are just passing through for a month or two period.

Thoughts?

[RalphH]

when I was young and went salmon fishing in the chuck with my father, I remember we caught more rockfish and ling cod than salmon...

It's a finfish only closure in rockfish conservation areas. Commercial salmon openings are usually pretty specific as to what area and subarea and what gear is open and allowed. Perhaps that manages the possibility of rockfish by-catch if commercial fishing is allowed in an RCA.

[Andyman]

From DFO website…

Permitted fishing within rockfish conservation areas

FISHING ACTIVITY NOT LISTED BELOW IS RESTRICTED.

Commercial fishing

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
groundfish by mid-water trawl

Recreational fishing

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

[RalphH]

I think you'd have to refer your inquiry to DFO. You may even get a response.

[clarki]

Ralph has a good suggestion; asking DFO about the rationale for the decision might yield something.

If I had to wager a guess, I suspect DFO is enforcing to the lowest common denominator.

If an RCA remained closed to fishing for rockfish but open to other species, people would still fish there for rockfish, but claim they were fishing for salmon or lingcod or halibut, or...  Other boats/anglers in the area would also assume the same.

With a RCA being closed to fishing, any boat with rods out is easily identifiable as breaking the law.                 

[CohoJake]

when I was young and went salmon fishing in the chuck with my father, I remember we caught more rockfish and ling cod than salmon...

Same- especially when I was young we almost exclusively mooched with cut-plug herring. I would think some kind of gear restrictions would be pretty effective though - I know you can catch rockfish when jigging with artificials, but do they ever strike a trolled plug or spoon? Serious question - I don't have enough experience to know.

[TNAngler]

I would imagine as Ralph said, the bycatch for salmon fishing isn't miniscule.  However, commercial fishermen do not want their nets on the bottom, not even close.  You get currents moving nets and one rock will tear up tens of thousands of dollars worth of gear in no time flat.  In all the years I commercial fished and the thousands and tens of thousands of salmon we caught, I remember catching a rockfish once.  There were a couple times where we did end up on the bottom accidentally and that usually required pulling the net completely off the boat and rehanging at least a quarter of it which is weeks upon weeks of work usually.  That will cost you the rest of the fishing season most of the time.

[colin6101]

Same- especially when I was young we almost exclusively mooched with cut-plug herring. I would think some kind of gear restrictions would be pretty effective though - I know you can catch rockfish when jigging with artificials, but do they ever strike a trolled plug or spoon? Serious question - I don't have enough experience to know.

I have caught tons of rockfish while trolling for salmon, but usually in water shallower than 100'. They smash spoons and flys and are a lot of fun on lighter gear. I found that rockfish would travel up around 30' off the bottom to hit a moving lure and could actively watch them on my sounder at times. I think it would be really hard to implement a restriction asking people to not fish within 30' of the bottom at all times in a certain area and that is the only regulation that I think would work.