Chapter five - Policies for vessels 19.8m (65') LOA and greater

(1) Licence holders are permitted to process at sea (filleting) only the following non-traditional groundfish species: silver hake, grenadier, argentine.

(1) A maximum of three groundfish factory freezer trawler (FFT) licences may be issued to selected East coast fishing companies.

(2) One licence each is reserved for National Sea Products and Fishery Products International, while the third licence is reserved for a corporation or consortium from the remaining offshore groundfish corporations.

(3) At least 50 per cent of a factory freezer trawler's catch must be made up of previously underutilized Enterprise Allocations as identified prior to the licence being issued.

(4) No more than 6,000t of a corporation's 2J3KL (Northern) cod allocation can be harvested by a FFT in any one year.

(5) FFTs will not be permitted to operate in the Gulf of St. Lawrence or the Bay of Fundy.

(6) To operate a FFT, a corporation must retire a vessel from its present fleet in accordance with the existing vessel replacement guidelines under the Enterprise Allocation program.

(7) A corporation must outline an acceptable plan to minimize the socio-economic/community impact.

(8) All information associated with the operation of the FFTs must be made available to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans upon request.

(9) FFTs must be registered immediately as Canadian vessels and crewed fully by Canadians.

(10) Canadian Conversion Factors for the purpose of quota monitoring will apply. The provisional factors for cod, redfish, small flatfish and Greenland halibut to the round state are identified in STACAC Standards Documents.

(11) FFTs should meet DFO plant certification and regulations subject to adjustments for processing at sea.

(12) There will be 100 per cent observer coverage required and the cost will be paid by the licence holder. Provisions must be made on board for up to two observers, if required.

(13) The Department will be charging a licence fee based on a company's individual Enterprise Allocations.

(1) The holder of a groundfish or shrimp licence authorized to use a vessel 19.8m (65') LOA and over but less than 30.5m (100') LOA may not have his licence amended to authorize the use of a vessel:

1. (a) with a LOA greater than 105 percent of the LOA of the original vessel, up to a maximum of 30.5m (100') LOA; and
2. (b) with a hold capacity that exceeds 110 percent of the hold capacity of the original vessel.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1) and subject to section (28), the holder of a groundfish licence participating in the Midshore EA Program may have his licence amended to authorize the use of only one vessel less than 30.5m (100') LOA per vessel authorized on the licence.

(3) Subject to section (28), the holder of a groundfish licence authorized to use a vessel 30.5m (100') LOA and over may have his licence amended to authorize the use of only one vessel of any length per vessel authorized on the licence.

(4) A wetfish vessel may be replaced by a freezer vessel.

(1) This program does not apply to vessels or licence holders based in 2J3KLPs.

(2) The use of vessels less than 19.8m (65') LOA by midshore or offshore EA groundfish licence holders must be for a well-defined period of time. It is not the intent of this policy to permit vessels less than 19.8m (65') LOA to regularly switch between offshore, midshore and inshore sectors. A vessel less than 19.8m (65') LOA will be identified on a midshore or offshore EA groundfish licence for a minimum period of 2 months. The deadline for approving the use of a vessel less than 19.8m (65') LOA under the Program is October 25 of each calendar year.

(3) A maximum of two vessels less than 19.8m (65') LOA will be permitted to replace one midshore or offshore vessel at any one time, subject to the following exception:

Midshore and offshore companies may replace one offshore or midshore vessel with more than two vessels less than 19.8m (65') LOA providing that the replacement vessels less than 19.8m (65') LOA are licensed for inshore groundfish in the name of the company.

(4) If the replacement is a "one for one" replacement, then the less than 19.8m (65') LOA vessel would have access to the offshore or midshore competitive quotas.

(5) If the replacement is "two for one" replacement, then the less than 19.8m (65') LOA vessels would not have access to the offshore or midshore competitive quotas.

(6) Vessels less than 19.8m (65') LOA participating in the Program will be subject to the same specific licence condition or requirements as the midshore or offshore vessels being replaced, including the use of observers where required, participation into the dockside monitoring program, as well as conforming to all reporting and regulatory requirements.

(7) While their vessels are fishing for a midshore or offshore EA groundfish licence holder, inshore fishers participating in the program must have these vessels removed from any inshore licence they hold.