Maritime Provinces Fishery Regulations (SOR/93-55)

5 The Minister, upon application for a licence or registration card set out in column I of an item of the table to this section and payment of the fee set out in column II of that item, may issue that licence or registration card.

Prohibited Species

6 No person shall catch and retain or possess Atlantic whitefish.

Fishing in Inland Waters

• 7 (1) Subject to subsection (2), no person shall fish in inland waters except by angling.

• (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a person who is fishing

  • (a) for gaspereau, smelt or shellfish;

  • (b) for minnows with minnow traps or dip nets;

  • (c) with set lines under Parts XVIII and XIX; or

  • (d) under the authority of a licence that authorizes fishing in inland waters by means other than angling.

8 No person shall fish in inland waters with the aid of an artificial light or light from a fire.

Jigging Restrictions

9 No person shall fish or assist in fishing by jigging in inland waters or assist in landing fish that have been caught by jigging in inland waters.

9.1 No person shall fish by jigging in the waters set out in column I of the table to this section during the close time set out in column II.

Angling

10 Notwithstanding any open season set out in these Regulations for angling in any inland waters, no person shall angle for any species of fish in those inland waters unless an open season for at least one species of sport fish is in effect in those waters.

11 No person shall angle in inland waters

• (a) with more than one fishing line; or

• (b) with a fishing line to which more than three hooks are attached.

11.1 No person shall angle in tidal waters for sport fish

• (a) with more than one fishing line; or

• (b) with a fishing line to which more than three hooks are attached.

11.2 No person shall angle in tidal waters for any species of fish other than sport fish

• (a) with more than five fishing lines; or

• (b) with a fishing line to which more than six hooks are attached.

11.3 For greater certainty, the prohibitions set out in sections 11.1 and 11.2 do not apply to fishing for commercial purposes.

• 12 (1) Subject to subsection (2), no person shall angle for sport fish during the period beginning two hours after sunset and ending two hours before sunrise.

• (2) Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of

  • (a) angling for smallmouth bass in Micmac Lake or Banook Lake in Halifax County, Nova Scotia;

  • (b) angling for brown trout in the Cornwallis River, Kings County, Nova Scotia or in the Mersey River, Queens County, Nova Scotia, downstream from Lake Rossignol to the dam at Cowie Falls; or

  • (c) angling during the period beginning on January 1 and ending on March 31 in the waters set out in section 116 or Schedule IX.

• (3) Nothwithstanding subsection (1), no person shall angle in the inland waters of Nova Scotia set out in Schedule IV during the period beginning at 22:00 h on any day and ending at 06:00 h on the following day.

13 Every person who catches a sport fish by hooking it in a part of its body other than its mouth shall forthwith return the fish to the water from which it was caught and, where the fish is alive, release the fish in a manner that causes the least harm to it.

14 No person shall use a gaff or spear to land a sport fish that has been caught by angling.

15 No person shall angle or assist in angling from

• (a) any bridge in Nova Scotia that spans any waters set out in column I of Schedule IV; or

• (b) any bridge in New Brunswick that spans the inland waters of or forms the boundary for the inland waters of any river, stream or brook set out in column I of Schedule II.

• 16 (1) No person shall angle for any species of fish in the waters set out in column I of Schedule IV by a method set out in column II during the close time set out in column III.

• (2) The close time established by subsection (1) is considered to be fixed separately and independently for each species of fish found in those waters.

Possession Limits

• 17 (1) No person shall possess at any time more salmon taken by angling in accordance with these Regulations than the applicable yearly fishing quota for salmon prescribed by these Regulations.

• (2) No person shall possess at any time more fish of a species taken by recreational fishing in accordance with these Regulations, except for salmon, than the applicable daily fishing quota for that species prescribed by these Regulations.

General Bait Provisions

18 No person shall use as bait, or possess for use as bait, in a province any

• (a) live or dead

  • (i) bass, bullhead, sunfish, white perch, yellow perch or other spiny fin-rayed fish,

  • (ii) goldfish or other carp, or

  • (iii) chain pickerel; or

• (b) live fish that was not taken in that province.

Bait Provisions Specific to New Brunswick

• 19 (1) Subject to subsection (2), no person shall use as bait or possess for use as bait in the inland waters of New Brunswick any live fish.

• (2) A person may use live fish for bait, or possess live fish for use as bait, in a body of water set out in section 116 if the fish was taken from that body of water and it is not a species of fish set out in paragraph 18(a).

Gear Restrictions

20 No person shall fish for any species of fish in the waters set out in column I of an item of Schedule III by a method set out in column II of that item during the close time set out in column III of that item.

21 Every person who fishes with a gill net shall set it in a straight line.

22 No person in a province shall, without lawful excuse, possess any fishing net other than a dip net.

• 23 (1) No person shall possess in inland waters or within 15 m of inland waters a jigging device or spear.

• (2) No person shall possess in inland waters or within 15 m of inland waters a snare or bow and arrow unless the person is lawfully hunting or trapping under the laws of a province.

24 Every person who is fishing for gaspereau or shad with a gill net, trap net or weir shall, during the applicable weekly close time for those fish set out in Schedules V and VIII, respectively,

• (a) remove the gill net from the water; and

• (b) render the trap net or weir incapable of catching fish.

25 No person shall fish with a weir constructed in tidal waters that goes dry at low tide unless

• (a) the weir contains escape gates for the release of fish; and

• (b) the person opens the escape gates before each low tide and releases any incidental catch of fish.

Spacing of Fishing Gear

26 Except as otherwise provided as a condition of a licence, no person shall

• (a) fish for gaspereau in the Gaspereau River, Kings County, Nova Scotia, with

  • (i) a dip net within 90 m of a square net,

  • (ii) a square net within 60 m of any other square net, or

  • (iii) a square net within 60 m of a dam;

• (b) fish for smelt or tomcod in waters other than the Miramichi River or Miramichi Bay with a bag net, trap net or gill net within

  • (i) 45 m of any other bag net, trap net or gill net, or

  • (ii) 90 m upstream or downstream of any other bag net, trap net or gill net;

• (c) fish for smelt or tomcod in the Miramichi River or Miramichi Bay with a bag net, trap net or gill net within

  • (i) 90 m of any other bag net, trap net or gill net, or

  • (ii) 180 m upstream or downstream of any other bag net, trap net or gill net;

• (d) fish for smelt or tomcod with a bag net, trap net or gill net within 90 m of a bridge; or

• (e) in any case not provided for in paragraphs (a) to (d), fish with or set any fishing gear, other than angling gear, a dip net, a minnow trap or a spear, within 200 m of any fishing gear previously set.

Tending of Fishing Gear

27 No person shall leave fishing gear unattended in the water for more than 72 consecutive hours.

Temporary Shelters on Ice

• 28 (1) No person shall, in the provinces of Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, place a shack or temporary shelter on the ice over any waters, unless the name and address of the owner is painted on or otherwise affixed to the shack or temporary shelter.

• (2) The letters and numerals forming the name and address of the owner of a shack or temporary shelter referred to in subsection (1) shall be

  • (a) legible;

  • (b) not less than 50 mm in height; and

  • (c) in a colour that contrasts with their background.

• (3) No person shall place a shack or temporary shelter on the ice before January 1 in any waters set out in section 116 or Schedule IX.

• (4) Every shack or temporary shelter placed on the ice shall be removed by the owner by midnight on April 2, in any year, or, depending on ice conditions, by the earlier or later date as may be specified by a fishery officer.

Taking Shellfish for Replanting

29 Notwithstanding any close time or size limit set out in these Regulations, a person may, under the authority of a shellfish replanting licence, fish for shellfish for the purpose of relocating them to improve their growth, condition or accessibility.

PART I.1Inshore and Coastal Licences

Interpretation

• 29.01 (1) The following definitions apply in this Part.

  family member

  family member has the meaning assigned by paragraph (a) of the definition related persons in subsection 251(2) of the Income Tax Act. (membre de la famille)

  inshore family fishing corporation

  inshore family fishing corporation means a corporation that operates an inshore fishing enterprise and that meets the following conditions:

  • (a) 100% of its voting shares are held by a licence holder;

  • (b) the sole director is the licence holder or, if the licence holder is a corporation, all of the shares of which belong to one individual, that individual; and

  • (c) 100% of its non-voting shares, if any, are held by

    • (i) a member of the licence holder’s family or, if the licence holder is a corporation, all of the shares of which belong to one individual, a member of that individual’s family, or

    • (ii) an inshore fishing corporation or an inshore fishing family trust. (société familiale de pêche côtière)

  inshore fishing corporation

  inshore fishing corporation means a corporation that meets the following conditions:

  • (a) 100% of its voting shares are held by a licence holder;

  • (b) the sole director is the licence holder or, if the licence holder is a corporation, all of the shares of which belong to one individual, that individual; and

  • (c) 100% of its non-voting shares, if any, are held by

    • (i) a member of the licence holder’s family or, if the licence holder is a corporation, all of the shares of which belong to one individual, a member of that individual’s family, or

    • (ii) an inshore fishing corporation or an inshore fishing family trust. (société de pêche côtière)

  inshore fishing family trust

  inshore fishing family trust means a trust

  • (a) that has as its sole trustee a licence holder or, if the licence holder is a corporation all of the shares of which belong to one individual, that individual; and

  • (b) for which each beneficiary must be either a member of the licence holder’s family or, if the licence holder is a corporation all of the shares of which belong to one individual, a member of that individual’s family or an inshore fishing company. (fiducie familiale de pêche côtière)

• (2) For the purposes of the definition family member, common-law partnership is to be read as a person who is cohabiting with a licence holder in a relationship of a conjugal nature and has done so for a period of at least one year.