Fishing In Canadian Waters

F

forrest

Member
C-Brats,
First of all, I appreciated all of your responses about cruising in Canadian waters. It will be a big help next year when I retire. I have another question. What must you do (assuming you have a Canadian license), when you leave an American port and fish in Canadian waters? Say leave Neah Bay and fish for halibut on the Canadian side of Swiftshore? Do you have to go to a Canadian port and check in before you fish?
Thanks for the info,
Forrest
 
Forrest,

In the past, people used to go from Neah Bay to Port Renfrew to purchase licenses, then fish the Canadian side. To be truthful, I am not sure that it is legal to do that, since I do not believe there is a customs office there. You can purchase a license via the internet, but it limits where you can fish for halibut. If you make a trip to BC, you can purchase your license with no zone restrictions.

If you do fish Neah Bay, try to schedule your trips for times when the tides are at a minimum. There's a lot of water that moves through that strait, and it can get a bit on the rough side. Discretion is the better part of valor.

So far, the Broughton Island Group is my favorite place to cruise, although I do enjoy the Gulf Islands, too. There's just a lot of neat country up there.

Steve
 
You can buy Canadian fishing licenses online for the year, one day or somewhere in between, it is very easy and I did it last year. BUT.... the only area you can't buy an online BC fishing license for is Canadian Swiftsure. To get that one, we took the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria (walked on), caught a cab to the sporting goods place (had cab wait for us) and bought the non-resident license that IS valid for all of B.C. and their side of Swiftsure, and had cab dash us back to the M.V. Coho (ferry) in time to catch its return trip to the U.S.

Read the regs beforehand or while on the ferry. Harvested Salmon must be identifiable by specie (fillets must by grouped per fish and one must have fins/tail attached). You can fish more than one rod per fisherman! So you can fish one shallow for coho / silvers and one or two deeper for chinook (they call them springs). Halibut is two per fisher per day. You do not have to take your catch back into Canada but can boat directly back to Neah Bay, but you'd better not be over and you need the right tags. We also stay in P.A. and ride 16 miles north to fish halibut by Victoria and then boat back for the night. Crossing the Strait of Juan De Fuca can be a cakewalk or nightmare. Last time we decided to ride back on the ferry, get truck and trailer and go and pick up the boat. $400 split beween four guys for the ferry wasn't too bad since we (and boat) all arrived safely. Might be cheaper to moor in Victoria and just cross once each way in boat.

Right by Echo Bay (NE of Pt. McNeil)is // was a couple years ago, a one mile square place where you could kill/keep wild coho. We limited daily there. Good luck, C.W.
 
Forrest,

I don't believe you have to check in as long as you do not go to shore, or raft up with another boat. Some of the more experienced folks can weigh in if I am wrong.

Steve
 
As I under stand it you do not have to clear customs as long as you dont tie up some where or to another boat. Now there is some debate about whos limit you have to obey. Now I have talked to at least three game wardens and have gotten four answers, yes I can count too. Here's the rub. If ,as an example, salmon is open in the states and canada and you fish canada, then you can catch canadain limits but may or may not be able to transport more then the U.S. limit thru the U.S. Now if the states are closed for salmon then you can transport canadan limits thru the U.S. That was one answer I got. The next answer was It was ok to transport canadain limits thru the U.S. during our season as long as you had a canadian tag. The third guy could said it was a matter of sea vs land. You had to go with U.S. limits if you came by boat but canadain limits if you trailer back on the road regardless of U.S. seasons. Told you there were 4 answers.
 
You can fish in Canadian waters and bring fish back to U.S. ports. It happens all the time and most game wardens (though not all) understand the rules. However, there's a two things you MUST NOT DO.

1) Don't bring back fish which we are entirely prohibited from harvesting at anytime in the US - e.g. yellow eye or canary rockfish. You can land Canadian caught halibut or salmon in a U.S. port even if that port does not have an open season at the time for halibut or the particular species of salmon.

2) Don't fish in U.S. waters after retaining a Canadian fish. The logic here is that if you catch a fish in Canadian waters (say a halibut when the U.S. season is closed) and then stop to fish in U.S. waters, the US wardens can't be sure that you didn't poach the fish from U.S. waters. Ditto for the Canadians if you bring a U.S. caught fish into Canadian waters and then proceed to fish in Canadian waters.

So, if you wish to catch both a Canadian AND a U.S. limit, fish in Canada first and return to the U.S. port. Off load the Canadian fish. Then you can (if you still have the time/energy and a US license), fish in US waters for your U.S. limit.

Note however that the possession limit applies to fish you have in your possession (which includes the freezer on shore) and you need to be careful not to be over your possession limit. It's not clear to me on this one how the gamies would treat the Canadian caught fish in say the storage freezer at Neah Bay. My guess is that you could ask several wardens and never get the same answer twice.
 
Rogerbum, do you do the Port Angles ferry - Victoria Sporting Goods Store shuffle as CW describes or do you have a different system?
 
Warren you could just drive north and cross the border at the peace arch and find a local store that sells fishing gear. If you do not plan to fish the one part of swiftsure you can get your tag on line. The whole reason for this rule is to keep the U.S. sport fishing guides from taking clients to swiftsure. the Canadians want you to go there on their boats. Now everyone goes across the border and gets there tag and still uses the U.S. boats to fish swiftsure. the only one gaining anything from this is the ferry system.
 
I think you need more than a Canadian fishing license to fish in Canadian waters if your American. I live in Ontario ( Canada) and have a American fishing licience. The border patrol stopped me and told me i also needed a I-68 Landing Licience. I told them i had no intention of entering the USA either by landing,tieing up to another boat, even anchoring on the bottom in American territory. They told me i was only allowed to cruise through American waters if i was travelling from Canadian waters through American waters to Canadian waters and wasn`t allowed to stop in American waters. Stopping or fishing in American waters indicated that i had come with a definite purpose other than free passage and therefore needed a landing permit.Most Canadian i know have a landing permit to fish even if they have no intention of landing in America. Not sure but i would think that Canadians would have similar regulations. I would check into this if i were you, really would wreak a fishing trip if you also needed a landing permit.
 
Doryman":35ef83hw said:
Anyone know where US citizens go to get this Canadian landing permit thing and what it's called there?

Thanks,
Warren
Click to expand...

I don't think it applies to us on the coast here. I know a lot of people who fish in the salt on the Canadian side and none of them need a "landing permit". As long as you don't tie up to another boat (or hover near one) and don't touch the Canadian shore, I'm pretty sure the only thing you need is the Canadian license. Also you have to make sure your boat meets the Canadian Coast Guard requirements (they're a little different than the U.S. regs.).
 
Roger,

I was wondering where you got this info:
Also you have to make sure your boat meets the Canadian Coast Guard requirements (they're a little different than the U.S. regs.).
Click to expand...

My understanding is that US boats have to meet USCG standards and Canadian boats have to meet Canada CG standards.

Otherwise you would have to carry two sets of life jackets, throw ring, flares, etc., one set for each country. You would also have to enter Canada by car and buy the equipment, as entering by boat and THEN buying equipment would be a technical violation.

In 20 years of cruising Canada, I have never heard of any US boat being cited for not carrying Canada CG approved safety gear.
 
Larry,

I stand corrected. As long as you are not in Canadian water for more than 45 days in a row

"Foreign pleasure craft (pleasure craft that are licensed or registered in a country other than Canada) need to comply with equipment requirements of the country in which the vessel is usually kept."

However, the Regulations apply to non-residents:

* If they operate their pleasure craft in Canadian waters for more than 45 consecutive days or,
* If they operate a pleasure craft that is licensed or registered in Canada (including rented or chartered boats).
* The Regulations do not apply to non-residents who operate their pleasure craft in Canadian waters for less than 45 consecutive days. Please note that a proof of residence will be required on board at all times.

Roger
 
Roger,

Thanks, I did not know about the 45 day limitation. That makes some sense.

I did know that a boater needs to comply with the Canadian boater operators card requirement after 45 days.
 
rogerbum":koz4g3gz said:
I don't think it applies to us on the coast here. I know a lot of people who fish in the salt on the Canadian side and none of them need a "landing permit". As long as you don't tie up to another boat (or hover near one) and don't touch the Canadian shore, I'm pretty sure the only thing you need is the Canadian license. Also you have to make sure your boat meets the Canadian Coast Guard requirements (they're a little different than the U.S. regs.).
Click to expand...

For those of us who want to do more than just fish, do you think the Canadian "landing permit" is the same thing you get when you call into customs at Bedwell Harbour or Sydney?

Warren
 
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