Inshore regulations – supplementary information

No specific logbook is required for the recording of this information. Licence holders are requested to keep records of this information in their own personal business documentation files.

The definition of a fishing trip is found in the Atlantic Fishery Regulations, 1985, section 2(1), which state that: a fishing trip means a voyage that commences at the time a fishing vessel leaves a port to engage in fishing and terminates at the time fish caught during that period are offloaded.

Crew is defined as those people onboard the fishing vessel who are engaged in fishing activities.

The regulations specify that an individual less than 16 years of age may be on a fishing vessel without registering as a commercial fisher, whether they are engaged in a fishing activity or not.

Individuals over the age of 16 may also be on the fishing vessel; however, if they are engaged in fishing, they must register as a commercial fisher.

An individual of any age, who is not engaged in commercial fishing, does not need to register to be onboard the vessel, and is not considered as crew.

For individuals less than 16 years of age who are fishing onboard the fishing vessel, they should be included in the crew registry, noting instead of a fisher registration or certificate number that they are less than 16 years of age.

As an inshore Independent Core licence holder, it has always been important that you were independent and making all of your own enterprise decisions.

Industry has long advocated for the Owner-Operator and Fleet Separation policies to be enshrined in regulations, and now they are.

When inshore commercial licence holders are in control of their operations, they benefit from the fishing licence issued to them and the sales of the fish.

As an owner operator who is an Independent Core licence holder, one of the licence privileges is your choice to use a catch-share arrangement which determines how you pay your crew members. However, at the same time, the use of the catch-share arrangements means that you are transferring some of the benefits you have as a licence holder. To allow for you to continue to operate your enterprise independently, the regulations allow for the continued use of a catch-share as an allowable exception. The crew registry is a requirement to allow for this exception. In the future, if we should need to confirm your independence (your regulatory compliance), we may ask to review your crew registry to confirm the members of your crew (i.e., those who shared in the catch-share arrangement).

The new regulations reaffirm the importance of you being an independent business person.

If the licence holder does not meet the requirements of the regulations, you will not be issued the licence.

As of April 1, 2021, applying to obtain a commercial licence under the Atlantic Fishery Regulations, 1985 and Maritime Provinces Fishery Regulations (either new or previously held) is subject to new eligibility criteria and prohibitions respecting the use and control of the rights and privileges conferred under the licence to fish.

The Regulations are intended to help ensure that all licence holders abide by the amendments, thereby maintaining a level playing field in the fishery and reducing the risk that the social, economic, and cultural benefits associated with independently owned businesses are diverted away from licence holders.

By establishing licence eligibility criteria and clear rules of conduct subject to enforcement action under the Fisheries Act, these amendments aim to address practices that threaten to undermine licensing decisions made by the Minister. This will allow the Minister to continue to licence inshore and coastal fisheries in a manner that fulfills social, economic, and cultural objectives, and to protect the independence and prosperity of small coastal communities.

The new electronic Declaration of Inshore Regulations Compliance replaces the paper declaration of policy compliance that Independent Core licence holders were required sign.

The new electronic Declaration of Inshore Regulations Compliance is a requirement prior to the Minster being able to issue a licence under the Atlantic Fishery Regulations, 1985 and Maritime Provinces Fishery Regulations.

For NOLS Representatives, this means that you are declaring that the licence holder for whom you are completing the licence application, Declaration and licence fee payment, has declared to you that they are compliant with the regulations associated with that licence.

Under the new regulations, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans cannot issue inshore licences to applicants who have not retained the use and control of the rights or privileges conferred under the licence.

The National On-line Licensing System (NOLS) now contains a new, electronic Declaration for you to do this instead of the paper process we used before.

The Declaration will pop up when you or your NOLS representative go to pay the licence fees. You will need to read it, check the box at the bottom to tell us that you understand the regulations and are compliant with them, and then, proceed to pay the licence fees.

If you have a NOLS representative, they will need to understand what the new regulations mean and confirm that you also understand them (and are compliant with them) before they check the box at the bottom of the Declaration and proceed to pay the licence fees.

You (or your NOLS representative) can only proceed to ‘Pay Now’ once you’ve agreed that you understand the regulations and have confirmed that you are compliant with them.

If you can’t agree or have some concerns about the new Declaration (or you want to check first that you’re compliant with the regulations), you can contact the DFO licensing team.