Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: dennisK on July 25, 2005, 11:58:09 AM
-
I like the presence of the DFO on the river. We were checked just as I was cleaning our fish. They really had a good approach. The three younger officers on the green jet pulled up slowly - they put out their bumpers and one officer at each ends of the boat held onto mine so they wouldn't slam against each other. They all were smiling and didnn't really even ask many questions - we just handed over our signed licences- no problems. We asked them some questions which they answered the best they could. Kind, courteous, freindly - they left us feeling good that they were out there doing their job. Perfect experience. What I liked to see was they looked forward at the next boat and re-adjusted their bumpers to accomodate the next boat. I see that type of action by DFO as being first class - not like the old jerk of the past that assumes everyone is doing something wrong and he would just bear down on you almost swamping you in the process then proceed to interigate you as though you were a criminal. WELL DONE DFO - NICE CHANGE.
i still yet to have seen them on the vedder during sept/oct's meatfest.
curious if you asked them about the apparent lack of enforcement there?
-
Rieber, I passed your words to the enforcement sector of the area for you today, here's the chief's reply:
Thank you very much Rodney for passing this information along.
I will make sure I pass along these words of encouragement to the Officers
in the Area.
It is not often that people recognize the good work of the Officers working
in a challenging environment.
Thanks again.
-
Kudos to the fisheries officers. Too often, they come across heavy handed, assuming you are guilty of something without checking the facts.
-
Rodney - I appreciate you passing on my post - Thanks. ;) I think if the DFO did a bit more on their public relations end, the attitude towards them would be considerably more favourable. People have to get real with their expectations whenever they call in a violation. Yes, please report violators but don't expect them to magically parachute out of the sky to write out a ticket. I'm sure sometimes they are in the right area and have the ability to immediately respond to a call but more often they simple won't have an officer in the area. We live in a time where we expect immediate results, well that doesn't happen with law enforcement unless it's "life or death" serious. I really like this step-up in DFO presence. Things are changing for the good. Let's just hope resource cut-backs don't take these officers away.
-
nice to hear good words about the dfo for a change ;D :D ;D :D
-
No problem Rieber, encouraging feedbacks from the public can only make their job easier. Making their job easier means catching more poachers and creating a better fishing environment.
Don't be offended if a DFO officer appears to be having a bad day right from the beginning, they're only human. ;) The environment they work in is not easy, sometimes it may just be unlucky that you are the tenth person he or she checks and the previous nine all have violations. ;D
Back to the fishing. Last weekend, there were communal and ceremonial openings for FN so fishing maybe slower than last week. The openings took place between Steveston and Hope. In total, 186 chinook salmon were netted. There will be another FN opening on July 31st.
Not too sure why there are four scheduled ceremonial openings for Cheam First Nation. We'll try to bring that up during our second FN/Rec resolution dialogue session on this Wednesday if possible. It's important to phone in any violations that you observe, but it's also important to be aware of the openings taking place while you're out. Earlier this year, one of the problem between FN, Rec and DFO was the miscommunication between and within all three groups. As a result, no one knew which nets were legal, which were not out there. It is still a problem, but it is slowly being solved.
The barfishing should be good later on this week, as the river continues to drop and clear.
-
Yesterday while out bar fishing in Agassiz/Rosedale area saw drift netting going on. We phoned it in and was told by the OB line a 12 hour opening. When I got home was told it was for a 3 hour opening only from 11 to 2 for 15 chinook. In 2 sets we counted 11 and then a third set started as we left at 4. We are investigating why there was this difference in timing.
-
Rieber, I passed your words to the enforcement sector of the area for you today, here's the chief's reply:
rod..don't mean to be an my friend..but did you ask him about the vedder...why they do not patrol it more during meat season? sept/oct....especially around peach road...
i know you do not like to be negative (i've noticed you are VERY VERY DIPLOMATIC...sort of like the UN) but i think the message needs to made to the DFO...and since you are on close terms...
last year was disgusting and I called but no dfo...beeks were taking springs left right and centre...OVER the limit.
and (please no flaming me) the VAST majority of those i witnessed were speaking slavic dialects (Russian/Polish) AND some asian dialects (Viet'Laos).
And how do I know....well I'm slavic and my wife teaches asian studies.
my point being that they maybe "new" canadians and the DFO would be a good refresher of the rules on the vedder during this busy season.
-
Are you kidding me, diplomatic? I've been told that I am a evil bad cyber dictator... ;) :-[
I didn't bring up the Vedder situation, but from past discussion the issue mainly falls on budget limitation. Lack of money sometimes keeps the guys at the office, instead of out patrolling all the time. Some of the officers also volunteer their time when their work hours are done to patrol due to staff shortage.
Unfortunately, the Vedder being a hatchery river would not be their top priority. There are bigger and badder fish to catch out there, the ones who are poaching in massive quantity from the wild runs.
I don't harvest chinook on the Vedder, so I am not in the beek crowd. ;D Last year however, I took home some chinook jacks. :-[
I too have felt the "newcomers" issue is a growing problem. On one hand, no one wants to be selfish and Canadians should share this fantastic public resource. On the other hand, we have a new breed of fishermen who are not informed, educated and sometimes ignorant.
I've brought up a few times to the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC about the growing ethnic portion of the angling community. There is a need to develop some sort of educational program, to guide those newcomers to how things are done around here.
Put yourself in one of the new immigrant's shoes. If you are from a country where fishery management does not exist, what would you do when you want to go fishing in Canada? Go fishing of course, without purchasing a license, picking up a copy of the regulations, etc. When you arrive at the river, you see a line-up of anglers happily catching fish, you eagerly join in. The language barrier prevents you from understanding what is going on, but the fishing is good. ;)
I think all major access to fishing locations (Lickman Road, Peach Road, beginning of gravel road, public docks in Richmond, etc) should have a big display sign set up to explain to new anglers that a license is needed when fishing. General fishing regulations should also be listed on that sign, with the number of ORR at the very bottom. There should also be a blank area where latest fishery announcement can be posted. Handouts of fishing information should also be available in different languages. We have a large number of German tourists coming here to fish, there needs to be money put aside to develop this program to make things better.
The above idea has been brought up at the City of Richmond before, but the City hesitates to proceed, fearing vandalism would make these signs short lived. I plan (ahem, when time permits eventually) to bring this issue up again with various agencies. Who knows, maybe we'll start a new fishing club in the Great Vancouver Area to achieve these goals.
The last few nights we were fishing at London's Landing Pier. It's a quiet little pier with tremendous amount of wildlife in the background. The pier however, has a tiny display that explains the history of Steveston. A huge portion of the pier is simply an empty space. Most anglers down at the pier are Chinese, mainly newcomers from China. Too often I overhear their conversation in Chinese, with so many questions about our regulations. Sometimes I jump in and answer, sometimes I don't, because I don't even know where to start (recite the entire reg. book from front in Chinese? :o). If the educational/public outreach channel is well developed, I think these situations can be reduced.
-
Hey why not put in a adapt a sign compaign? A wood bulletin board with laminated posters doesn't cost much.
-
Proper signage would be nice to see at all the local docks and fishing areas stating fishing regulations in at least three different languages, I have also wondered if the fishing regulation books come in cantonese or mandarin? While fishing the north arm for coarse fish this weekend I noticed that four or five other asian anglers were each using two rods one fellow was fishing with three, and all of them were using 3 hooks on the line. Luckily my girlfriend speaks cantonese and informed the fellows that they were breaking the law, funny thing was it wasnt till after I started taking pictures they all reeled in their second rods. Doesnt seem like a big deal when fishing for pikeminnow but if they use these same ethics when fishing for other species? But on a possitive note I was checked by a conservation officer while fishing a bar on the lower Fraser last week, personally I cant even remember the last time I was checked. Nice to see somethings are changing, the officer that checked me said that he had been working the sturgeon beat and was transfered to look after the salmon crowds now.
-
Rod: I thought _I_ had the title of mean cyber dictator ::)
Lucky: getting transfered from the sturgeon beat to the salmon beat? Is that like being transfered from South Vancouver to the Lower East Side?
-
Yesterday while out bar fishing in Agassiz/Rosedale area saw drift netting going on. We phoned it in and was told by the OB line a 12 hour opening. When I got home was told it was for a 3 hour opening only from 11 to 2 for 15 chinook. In 2 sets we counted 11 and then a third set started as we left at 4. We are investigating why there was this difference in timing.
FOC is now telling us that the opening was to 8 pm. Frank was given a notice it was to 2.????? ::)
-
Interesting that you should bring up the idea of posting signs of the regs. I've seen signs on the Artnako River as well as several lakes where the regs are all posted. I think its a great idea, not only will more people be educated but they can no longer use ignorance as an excuse.
-
There are also signs posted along the Squamish Hwy in the Porteau cove area. The signs say "No Fishing" (or something like that) in English and also several other foreign languages. Whether they are productive/useful, I don't know but they have been up for a few years now.
Shane
-
Yesterday while out bar fishing in Agassiz/Rosedale area saw drift netting going on. We phoned it in and was told by the OB line a 12 hour opening. When I got home was told it was for a 3 hour opening only from 11 to 2 for 15 chinook. In 2 sets we counted 11 and then a third set started as we left at 4. We are investigating why there was this difference in timing.
FOC is now telling us that the opening was to 8 pm. Frank was given a notice it was to 2.????? ::)
Franks error, it was to 8. They were given the opening for 15 chinooks but we had counted 11 before 4. Maybe some were sockeye but then they were to use a mesh size that would limit the sockeye catchs. :( Some questions that I have asked FOC to answer through my SFAC chair.
-
I've found that some of these "uneducated" fisherman....understand perfectly well...they just mumble their inability to understand.....C/O goes away,,...they go back fishing....think is called lying.... >:(
-
was up in the vedder today saw and talked to a DFO officer he told he was just checking it out.