U.S. ANGLERS FISHING Canadian waters have a new procedure to follow when bringing back Canadian-caught fish to U.S. ports like Sekiu, Port Angeles and Neah Bay.
Under the new Canadian law, boaters and anglers may cross into Canadian waters without first registering with Canada’s customs officials.
Previously, Canadian authorities required operators of fishing boats, pleasure cruisers, kayaks — and even Jetskis — to call customs and announce their entry once they arrived in Canada’s waters.
They were required to provide their passport or enhanced driver’s license and watercraft identification numbers and answer questions from our Canadian neighbors.
Docking a boat or venturing onto Canadian soil still requires customs intervention, according to the Canada Border Services Agency. The new law includes the entire boundary between the United States and Canada from Alaska to Maine.
Now, U.S. anglers with Canadian licenses heading across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to catch kings will fill out an online form available on the state Department of Fish and Wildlife’s website at wdfw.wa.gov/licensing/canadian_catch.php.
The form asks anglers to provide the date they entered Canadian waters and the date they exited, vessel number, party size, a valid email address to receive confirmation and your 11- or 12-digit WILD ID. If you don’t know or have your WILD ID, you can submit your date of birth, address and phone number.
Click the “Send Notification” button, and boom, you’ll receive an email confirmation code almost instantly.
Puget Sound Anglers member Dave Croonquist wrote in an email that he tested the system out when it was first introduced Monday.
“I did a test application,” he wrote. “[It] took less than a minute to get a number back from WDFW.”
State’s justification
The state said this regulation is needed to provide an alternate means for persons seeking to possess and/or land Canadian-caught fish in Washington waters or ports of call.
Basically, having that confirmation code will help anglers if they come into contact with Fish and Wildlife law enforcement who are wondering why Washington anglers possess salmon in a state Marine Area closed to fishing.
This issue could arise for anglers heading out from Port Angeles and fishing across the Canadian border as Marine Area 6 closed to salmon retention Tuesday.
And Sekiu, where hatchery silvers and pinks remain open through Aug. 31, still has anglers crossing that imaginary boundary line to target Canadian kings.
Mason’s Olson Resort in Sekiu will stay open through September for anglers making the 7-mile run across the border for legal Canadian salmon.
Some folks on social media have taken umbrage with the change, believing Fish and Wildlife is overstepping their legal bounds with the check-in confirmation system, and bemoaning the lack of internet capabilities on the West End to fill out the form.
I know the latter is not true in Neah Bay and Sekiu. I’ve reported on prep football and basketball games in both Clallam Bay and Neah Bay via a cellular company that uses Verizon’s towers, the only real cellular option covering the entire North Olympic Peninsula.
The form does allow anglers to check in months, and even years, into the future as well.
As for the legal bounds issue, I think this comes from anglers with axes to grind with Fish and Wildlife. This isn’t a life-altering change and it’s not worth getting upset.
Croonquist passed along a list of links to help anglers on a “border run” for Canadian fish.
“As I understand the rules, if you’re going to anchor in Canadian waters or go ashore, you still need to call the Canada Border Services Agency 1-888-226-7277 for an entry number [see page 4 in the brochure]. If you are not anchoring or landing — just drifting or trolling for salmon — you don’t need to call the CBSA.”
To get a Canadian license, visit tinyurl.com/PDN-CanadaLicense.
For Canadian Area 19 regulations, visit tinyurl.com/PDN-Area19Regs and click on “salmon.”
For Canadian Area 20 regulations, visit tinyurl.com/PDN-Area20Regs and click on “salmon.”
Halibut meeting
Fish and Wildlife has scheduled an initial public meeting to discuss preliminary options and identify proposed changes to the 2018 halibut catch-sharing plan.
This is the preliminary plan I have written about before which would trim the halibut catch limit to two total, one in possession, and open halibut fishing “every Saturday and Sunday in May and the first four weekends in June” — a total of 16 days.
The meeting will be held Monday, Aug. 28 in Olympia at the Natural Resources Building, Room 175, 1111 Washington St. SE, at 9 a.m.
I suggest anglers show up as a determined group and politely, but firmly, express their views on these proposed changes before the season-setting process kicks into high gear this fall.
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
