The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) office in Powell River says there’s been a big increase in calls since Sunshine Coasters, spurred in part by a Facebook group dedicated to “naming and shaming” poachers, have started speaking out about overfishing and illegal shellfish harvesting.
But, fisheries officer Ben Rahier said he’s also hoping that having the issue in the spotlight leads to more people familiarizing themselves with sport fishing regulations, shellfish closures, and other relevant information.
Rahier said knowing the rules is essential if you’re fishing or shellfish harvesting yourself, but it’s also important for people concerned about violations because it can reduce the likelihood of unsubstantiated or vague reports taking up limited enforcement resources.
“People are phoning just because they see people out on a beach harvesting. If it’s an open beach, likely there’s no violation there,” Rahier said.
“I’m not trying to dissuade people from phoning in if they feel the law is being broken… There is good information being provided and there are violations being reported, and we’re appreciative of that.”
Rahier said as well as information about the possible violation, it’s valuable for the fisheries officers to have contact information from people filing reports so they can follow up.
“We have been able to conduct lots of patrols and our detachment is getting support from the Steveston office as well as the Squamish office,” said Rahier. “The mid-Coast patrol vessel has worked the area a couple of times and we’re getting several flights being conducted by our aerial surveillance program, and those are all yielding excellent results.”
Patrols this month have led to tickets and fines, but no major cases. “There’ve been lots of violations encountered, but lots of compliant fishermen as well,” said Rahier.
Rahier also said the reaction officers are getting while out on patrol has been positive. “It’s great to patrol in an area where you have that kind of public support.”
According to Rahier, the much-anticipated arrival of a third fisheries officer at the Powell River office, which has responsibility for the Sunshine Coast, is still a few months away as the posting works its way through DFO’s hiring process.
The Facebook group, Sunshine Coast Fish and Wildlife Protection, now has over 1,300 members and a recent discussion thread encouraged people to use the comment card in MP Pam Goldsmith-Jones’ latest newsletter to request a fisheries officer be stationed on the Lower Sunshine Coast.
Goldsmith-Jones raised the issue earlier this year in a letter to then Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who was replaced by North Vancouver MP Jonathan Wilkinson in a recent cabinet shuffle.
DFO’s Observe, Record, Report line is 1-800-465-4336, and the sport fishing regulations are available online at:
http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/index-eng.html
Information about current shellfish closures is available through the DFO website at:
http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/contamination/index-eng.html
Or the BC Centre for Disease Control at:
http://maps.bccdc.org/shellfish
