Reporting requirements for commercial fisheries

In order to operate legally and in compliance with the Fisheries Act and related regulations, all commercial harvesters must follow the conditions of licence in their permit. This includes mandatory reporting, which depends on the type of licence.

Lost and retrieved gear reporting

Logging lost gear helps the department:

• better target areas for ghost gear retrieval activities
• find solutions to help prevent gear loss in the future
• provide more accurate and timely data on areas where gear loss is most frequent
• identify the most common causes of gear loss

Alternative formats

Plain text and PDF versions of the lost and retrieved fishing gear forms are available:

• Lost fishing gear form
• Retrieval of previously reported lost fishing gear form

Resources

Step-by-step videos are available.

For questions, or to request group training on how to use the Fishing Gear Reporting System, please email: DFO.LostandRetrievedGear-EnginsPerdusRecupere.MPO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca.

Lost gear sighting form

If you see lost gear that isn’t yours, you can report sighted lost gear. This form is intended for DFO-authorized fishing activities or any recreational activities while at sea.

Fishery-specific mandatory reporting

In addition to lost-gear reporting for all commercial harvesters, the fisheries listed below require additional reports be submitted to DFO. Please consult your conditions of licence for more information.

• Daily Hail Report – Unit 1 Inshore Redfish (Schedule 16A)
• Daily Hail Report – Groundfish (Schedule II)
• Daily Hail Report – Shrimp (Schedule I)
• Greenland Landing / Offload Notification – Groundfish (Schedule VI)
• Greenland Landing / Offload Notification – Shrimp (Schedule IV)