British Columbia Sport Fishing Regulations, 1996 (SOR/96-137)

PART IFishing in Tidal Waters

Application

15 This Part applies to fishing in tidal waters.

16 The definitions in this section apply in this Part.

conservation stamp

conservation stamp means a stamp issued under section 17 that bears the words “salmon conservation/conservation du saumon” and the year for which the conservation stamp is valid. (timbre de conservation)

licence

licence means a tidal waters sport fishing licence issued under section 17. (permis)

Licences and Conservation Stamps

17 The Minister may issue a licence or a conservation stamp to a person on request and on payment of the applicable fee set out in the table to this section.

• NOTE: 

  For the purposes of this table, resident means a person who normally resides in Canada.

• 18 (1) No person shall

  • (a) fish unless the person holds a licence; or

  • (b) catch and retain salmon unless the person holds a licence to which is permanently affixed a conservation stamp that is valid for the same year as the licence.

• (2) Paragraph (1)(a) does not apply on the third Sunday in June or the Friday or Saturday immediately preceding that day.

19 [Repealed, SOR/2002-380, s. 3]

20 No person shall harvest herring spawn on kelp other than under the authority of a licence issued under the Fishery (General) Regulations, the Pacific Fishery Regulations, 1993 or the Aboriginal Communal Fishing Licences Regulations.

21 No person shall hold more than one licence.

Catch Records

22 A licence holder who catches and retains a lingcod or a chinook salmon shall immediately record the catch on the licence or, if a record can be made in a catch registry kept by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, in that registry.

22.1 The licence holder shall not alter the record made under section 22.

PART IIFishing for Fin Fish Other than Salmon in Tidal Waters

Application

23 This Part applies to fishing for fin fish other than salmon in tidal waters.

Close Times

• 24 (1) No person shall fish for fish of a species set out in column I of an item of Schedule IV, in any Subarea, with a type of gear or by a method set out in column III of that item during the close time set out in column IV of that item.

• (2) The close time set out in column IV of item 21 of Schedule IV is considered to be fixed separately and individually for each species of fish set out in column I.

Daily Quotas for Individual Species

• 25 (1) No person shall catch and retain in a day more fish of a species set out in column I of Schedule IV, in any Subarea, than the daily quota set out in column II.

• (2) The quota set out in column II of item 21 of Schedule IV is considered to be fixed separately and individually for each species of fish set out in column I.

Aggregate Daily Quotas

26 No person shall, in a day, catch and retain more than

• (a) four wild trout and hatchery trout, in the aggregate, in any Subarea;

• (b) four wild trout and hatchery trout, in the aggregate; or

• (c) eight rockfish.

Annual Quotas

27 No person shall catch and retain in a year more than 10 lingcod in the aggregate from Areas 11 to 19, 28 and 29 and Subareas 20-5 to 20-7.

28 No person shall catch and retain more than one white sturgeon in a year.

Size Limits

29 No person shall catch and retain in any Subarea

• (a) a white sturgeon that measures less than 100 cm or more than 150 cm in overall length;

• (b) a wild trout that measures less than 30 cm in overall length;

• (c) a hatchery trout that measures less than 30 cm in overall length; or

• (d) a lingcod that measures less than 65 cm in overall length or that measures, with the head off, less than 53 cm in length when measured along the shortest length of the body to the tip of the tail.

Gear Restrictions

30 No person shall fish for fish of a species set out in column I of an item of Schedule IV other than with a type of gear or by a method set out in column III of that item.

31 No person shall fish for eulachon or smelt with a gill net

• (a) that exceeds 7.5 m in length; or

• (b) that has a mesh size of less than 25 mm or more than 50 mm.

32 No person shall fish for eulachon or smelt with more than one net at a time.

PART IIIFishing for Crustaceans, Echinoderms, Molluscs and Shellfish in Tidal Waters

Application

33 This Part applies to fishing for crustaceans, echinoderms, molluscs and shellfish in tidal waters.

Close Times

• 34 (1) No person shall fish for fish of a species set out in column I of an item of Schedule V, in any Subarea, with a type of gear or by a method set out in column III of that item during the close time set out in column IV of that item.

• (2) The close time set out in column IV of subitem 3(6) of Schedule V is considered to be fixed separately and individually for each species of crab set out in column I.

• (3) The close time set out in column IV of item 19 of Schedule V is considered to be fixed separately and individually for each species of fish set out in column I.

Daily Quotas for Individual Species

• 35 (1) No person shall catch and retain in a day more fish of a species set out in column I of Schedule V, in any Subarea, than the daily quota set out in column II.

• (2) The quota set out in column II of subitem 3(6) of Schedule V is considered to be fixed separately and individually for each species of crab referred to in column I.

• (3) The quota set out in column II of item 19 of Schedule V is considered to be fixed separately and individually for each species of fish referred to in column I.

Aggregate Daily Quotas

36 No person shall catch and retain in a day more than

• (a) 75 clams;

• (b) four Dungeness crab and red rock crab, in the aggregate, in all of Areas 11 to 20, 28 and 29;

• (c) six Dungeness crab, red rock crab and king crab, in the aggregate, in all of Areas 1 to 10 and 21 to 27 or in any Subarea outside the surfline;

• (d) 75 mussels; or

• (e) six purple-hinged rock scallops and weather-vane scallops in the aggregate.

Size Limits

• 37 (1) No person shall catch and retain

  • (a) an abalone that measures less than 100 mm in a straight line through the greatest breadth of the shell;

  • (b) a Dungeness crab that measures less than 165 mm in a straight line through the greatest breadth of the carapace; or

  • (c) a red rock crab that measures less than 115 mm in a straight line through the greatest breadth of the carapace

• (2) No person shall remove an abalone from its resting place without first ensuring that it is of a size greater than that described in paragraph (1)(a).

Gear Restrictions

38 No person shall fish for fish of a species set out in column I of an item of Schedule V other than with a type of gear or by a method set out in column III of that item.

• 39 (1) No person shall fish for crab with more than two ring nets, dip nets and crab traps in the aggregate.

• (2) No person shall fish for crab with a ring net or crab trap unless a tag, float or buoy that bears the operator’s name and telephone number is attached to the net or trap.

• (3) Despite subsection (2), if two crab traps are attached to one ground-line, it is sufficient to attach a tag, float or buoy that bears the operator’s name and telephone number to one end of the ground-line.

• 40 (1) No person shall fish for shrimp with more than four shrimp traps.

• (2) No person shall fish for shrimp with a shrimp trap unless a tag, float or buoy that bears the operator’s name and telephone number is attached to the trap.

• (3) Despite subsection (2), if two traps are attached to one ground-line, it is sufficient to attach a tag, float or buoy that bears the operator’s name and telephone number to one end of the ground-line.

• (4) For greater certainty, if more than two traps are attached to one ground-line, paragraph 27(6)(b) of the Fishery (General) Regulations applies.

• 40.1 (1) No person shall fish for octopus with an octopus trap unless a tag, float or buoy that bears the operator’s name and telephone number is attached to the trap.

• (2) Despite subsection (1), if two traps are attached to one ground-line, it is sufficient to attach a tag, float or buoy that bears the operator’s name and telephone number to one end of the ground-line.

• (3) For greater certainty, if more than two traps are attached to one ground-line, paragraph 27(6)(b) of the Fishery (General) Regulations applies.

41 No person shall fish with an octopus trap that is made of open mesh or with a crab or shrimp trap unless the trap has a section in the top or in a side wall that has been laced, sewn or otherwise secured by a single length of untreated cotton twine no greater than grade No. 120, which, on deterioration or parting, produces a rectangular opening with a minimum size of 7 cm × 20 cm or a square opening with a minimum size of 11 cm × 11 cm.

41.1 No person shall set, operate or leave unattended in the water any octopus trap, ring net or crab or shrimp trap unless the tag, float or buoy attached to the ring net or trap bears the operator’s name and telephone number.

41.2 A line or rope attached to a trap referred to in any of sections 39 to 41.1 must be submerged in such a manner that the line or rope does not come into contact with a person or a boat.

PART IVFishing for Salmon in Tidal and Non-Tidal Waters

Application

42 This Part applies to fishing for salmon in tidal and non-tidal waters.

Close Times

43 No person shall fish for salmon of a species set out in column I of an item of Schedule VI, in any Subarea, lake or stream, during the close time set out in column V of that item.

Daily Quotas for Individual Species

44 No person shall catch and retain in a day more salmon of a species set out in column I of an item of Schedule VI, of an overall length set out in column III of that item, in any Subarea, lake or stream, than the daily quota set out in column IV of that item.

Aggregate Daily Quotas

• 45 (1) No person shall catch and retain in a day, in any Subarea, lake or stream, more than

  • (a) four hatchery chinook salmon and wild chinook salmon, in the aggregate, that measure 50 cm or less in overall length;

  • (b) two hatchery chinook salmon and wild chinook salmon, in the aggregate, that measure more than 50 cm in overall length;

  • (c) four hatchery chinook salmon and wild chinook salmon, in the aggregate;

  • (d) four hatchery coho salmon and wild coho salmon, in the aggregate, that measure 35 cm or less in overall length;

  • (e) two hatchery coho salmon and wild coho salmon, in the aggregate, that measure more than 35 cm in overall length; or

  • (f) four hatchery coho salmon and wild coho salmon, in the aggregate.

• (2) No person shall catch and retain in a day more than four salmon, in the aggregate, from all waters.