Research Document 2019/010

Review of catch monitoring tools used in Canadian fisheries

By Beauchamp, B., Benoît, H., and Duprey, N.

Abstract

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) uses a variety of catch monitoring tools to support fisheries management efforts. These tools include fisher pre-departure and pre-arrival notifications, commercial sales slips, fisher questionnaires, effort monitoring, creel surveys, logbooks, dockside monitoring, at-sea observers, and electronic monitoring systems with video. The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of these tools in the typical contexts in which they are employed to monitor catch and to highlight their strengths and weaknesses in providing dependable catch data. The report also provides a compilation of the monitoring tools and details on their implementation (e.g., intended coverage levels) for Canada’s major fisheries managed by DFO.

DFO is currently developing a national fishery monitoring policy to ensure that DFO has timely and accessible fishery-dependent information of sufficient quality to manage fisheries sustainably. This report provides information to support the implementation of this policy once it is finalized.

Complete document (PDF, 1,061 KB)

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