Five Rockfish Conservation Area (RCA) signs have arrived on the Sunshine Coast, the Ruby Lake Lagoon Society announced this week.
The RCA signs will be posted at boat launches and gas docks on the Coast, including Madeira Park, Secret Cove Marina, Coopers Green, Sechelt Inlet and Gibsons Marina.
The signs have been created as part of a multi-year rockfish conservation program. To date, 44 signs have been installed across the region. Led by the Galiano Conservancy Association in collaboration with University of Victoria Environmental Studies and Valdes Island Conservancy, this initiative aims to improve local stewardship of these species at risk through public education and outreach, by improving our understanding of current recreational fishing pressures in Rockfish Conservation Areas through camera monitoring, and by generating population data through SCUBA surveys around Galiano and surrounding islands. These signs are one approach being used to increase fishing compliance and increase public awareness about rockfish conservation.
This collaboration is a direct outcome of a University of Victoria Environmental Studies Masters thesis by Sunshine Coast Provincial Park Ranger Darienne Lancaster, who studied compliance in Rockfish Conservation Areas in the Gulf Islands in 2014.
Lancaster interviewed 325 recreational fishers and posted cameras in 40 locations in the Gulf Islands. She learned that the recreational fishing community strongly supports the concept of RCAs, 60 per cent of people were unsure about RCA boundaries, 25 per cent had never heard of RCAs and 65 per cent of RCAs showed recreational fishing effort inside the RCA boundary.
Local stewards wish to raise the profile of endangered and threatened species of sebastes (the genus most commonly called rockfish) on the Sunshine Coast. Andy Lamb, author of Pacific Fishes, reminds people that rockfish can live 100 years or more in the same location. If you happen to see someone fishing in a rockfish conservation area, you can use diplomacy to politely point out the boundaries and let them know there is no hook and line fishing in RCAs. Chances are they didn’t know the boundaries and hopefully ignorance will not be an excuse next time.
The Lagoon Society extends thanks to Sunshine Coast Air for complimentary transportation of the RCA signs. Project funding provided by Environment and Climate Change Canada's Habitat Stewardship Program.
– Submitted
