The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is proposing to increase the rockfish conservation areas closed to fishing by 20 per cent along the Georgia Strait to protect low levels of rockfish. But not allowing hooks and lines in areas along the Coast would impact both commercial fishers and tourism, the DFO heard during a public consultation in Sechelt this week.
"We're here to explain a situation we have across the Coast, and that is we have a conservation concern," said Gary Logan of the DFO's rockfish/lingcod sustainability team. "We know we're potentially removing fishing grounds for you guys É but give us some alternatives."
John Mills, owner of the Egmont Marina Resort, said existing closures went in even after he voiced his concerns at public meetings a couple years ago. "You've virtually killed the village of Egmont," Mills said. "I can't even fish off my dock."
The resort loses half a million dollars a year because of the fishing closure, he said.
If the DFO were out enforcing more, the areas wouldn't need to be closed, he said.
Logan said with enforcement resources focusing on the Fraser River, the lack of enforcement in the Strait is a fair criticism. He told Mills it's important he be at meetings to pass on that information."This is not cast in stone," Logan said. "I'm not here to cause grief in communities." The DFO is hosting a series of consultations with First Nations, stakeholders and the public in communities along the Strait over the next month. Fifteen people were at Tuesday's meeting at the Seaside Centre. The DFO also welcomes written input until the Dec. 31 deadline for comments. Then it will review the comments, make recommendations and come back to the community to put the rockfish conservation areas in place by next May, Logan said.
"If we're truly interested in having this aggregate of fish around for our children's children, we have to act," Logan said.
Logan said the closures could allow for an opening for a couple months of the year to allow flyfishing for cutthroat trout off the shore with specific gear.
While lingcod stocks are rebuilding, rockfish are a by-catch of lingcod fishing, Logan said. Rockfish, of which there are 34 species in B.C., rarely survive catch and release, according to the DFO.
The closed areas would allow hand picking, traps, gillnets, seines and trawls for certain species such as prawns and crabs. More information and maps are available at www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca or at local DFO offices.
