Definition of “place”

7. For the purposes of sections 7.1, 7.4, 7.6 and 9, “place” includes

• (a) a fishing vessel found within Canadian fisheries waters or the NAFO Regulatory Area;

• (b) any other vehicle, including a vessel or aircraft; and

• (c) a container.

Marginal note:Entry — any place

• 7.1 (1) A protection officer may, for a purpose related to verifying compliance with this Act, enter any place in which the protection officer has reasonable grounds to believe that

  • (a) there is any fish, marine plant or other thing in respect of which this Act applies;

  • (b) there has been carried on, is being carried on or is likely to be carried on any activity in respect of which this Act applies; or

  • (c) there are any records, books or other documents, including documents in electronic form, concerning anything referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b).

• Marginal note:Entry — fishing vessel within Canadian fisheries waters or NAFO Regulatory Area

  (2) Despite subsection (1), a protection officer may board a fishing vessel found within Canadian fisheries waters or the NAFO Regulatory Area for a purpose related to verifying compliance with this Act.

• Marginal note:Powers on entry

  (3) The protection officer referred to in subsection (1) or (2) may, for a purpose related to verifying compliance with this Act,

  • (a) examine anything in the place;

  • (b) use any means of communication in the place or cause it to be used;

  • (c) use any computer system in the place, or cause it to be used, to examine data contained in or available to it;

  • (d) prepare a document, or cause one to be prepared, based on the data;

  • (e) use any copying equipment in the place or cause it to be used;

  • (f) conduct tests or analyses of anything in the place;

  • (g) take measurements or samples of anything in the place;

  • (h) take photographs or make recordings or sketches of anything in the place;

  • (i) remove anything found in the place;

  • (j) direct any person to put any machinery, vehicle or equipment in the place into operation or to cease operating it; and

  • (k) prohibit or limit access to all or part of the place or to anything in the place.

• Marginal note:Entry — fishing vessels ordered to port by flag state

  (4) A protection officer may, for a purpose related to verifying compliance with a law related to fisheries of a foreign state, with any conservation or management measures of a fisheries management organization or with an international fisheries treaty or arrangement to which Canada is party, including any conservation, management or enforcement measures taken under the treaty or arrangement, board a foreign fishing vessel that was authorized to enter Canadian fisheries waters under subparagraph 6(a)(iii).

• Marginal note:Powers on entry

  (5) The protection officer may, for the purpose referred to in subsection (4), exercise the powers referred to in subsection (3) to the extent that the exercise of those powers is authorized by the foreign state or is provided for in the measures, treaty or arrangement in question.

• Marginal note:Duty to assist

  (6) The owner or person in charge of a place and every person in the place shall give all assistance that is reasonably required to enable a protection officer to perform his or her functions under this section and shall provide any document or information, and access to any data, that is reasonably required for that purpose.

Marginal note:Person accompanying protection officer

7.2 A protection officer may be accompanied by any other person that the protection officer believes is necessary to help him or her perform his or her functions under this Act.

Marginal note:Stopping and detaining vehicle

7.3 A protection officer may, for a purpose related to verifying compliance with this Act, direct that any vehicle, including a fishing vessel found within Canadian fisheries waters or the NAFO Regulatory Area, be stopped and moved to another location and may detain it for a reasonable time. The person in charge of the vehicle shall comply with the directions.

Marginal note:Warrant to enter dwelling place

• 7.4 (1) If a place is a dwelling place, a protection officer may enter it without the occupant’s consent only under the authority of a warrant issued under subsection (2).

• Marginal note:Authority to issue warrant

  (2) On ex parte application, a justice of the peace may issue a warrant authorizing a protection officer to enter a dwelling place, subject to any conditions specified in the warrant, and authorizing any other person named in the warrant to accompany the protection officer, if the justice is satisfied by information on oath that

  • (a) the dwelling place is a place referred to in section 7.1;

  • (b) entry to the dwelling place is necessary to verify compliance with this Act; and

  • (c) entry was refused by the occupant or there are reasonable grounds to believe that entry will be refused by, or that consent to entry cannot be obtained from, the occupant.

Marginal note:Enforcement on high seas for unauthorized fishing in Canadian fisheries waters

• 7.5 (1) If a protection officer has reasonable grounds to believe that a fishing vessel of a state party to the Fish Stocks Agreement or of a state that is party to a treaty or arrangement described in paragraph 6(f) has engaged in unauthorized fishing in Canadian fisheries waters and the vessel is in an area of the sea designated under subparagraph 6(e)(ii) or (f)(ii), the officer may, with the consent of that state, take any enforcement action that is consistent with this Act.

• Marginal note:Powers not affected in case of pursuit

  (2) Subsection (1) does not affect any powers the protection officer has in the case of a pursuit that began while the vessel was in Canadian fisheries waters.

Marginal note:Search

• 7.6 (1) A justice, as defined in section 2 of the Criminal Code, who on ex parte application is satisfied by information on oath that there are reasonable grounds to believe that there is in a place any fish, marine plant or other thing that was obtained by or used in, or that will afford evidence in respect of, a contravention of this Act, may issue a warrant authorizing the protection officer named in the warrant to enter and search the place for the fish, marine plant or other thing, subject to any conditions specified in the warrant.

• Marginal note:Search without warrant

  (2) A protection officer may exercise the powers referred to in subsection (1) without a warrant if the conditions for obtaining a warrant exist but, by reason of exigent circumstances, it would not be practical to obtain a warrant.

• Marginal note:Search — fishing vessels ordered to port by flag state

  (3) A justice, as defined in section 2 of the Criminal Code, on ex parte application by a protection officer, may issue a warrant authorizing the protection officer named in the warrant to board a foreign fishing vessel that was authorized to enter Canadian fisheries waters under subparagraph 6(a)(iii) and search the vessel, or to enter any other place and search the other place, for any fish, marine plant or other thing, subject to any conditions specified in the warrant, if the justice is satisfied by information on oath that

  • (a) there are reasonable grounds to believe that there is in the vessel any fish, marine plant or other thing that was obtained by or used in, or that will afford evidence in respect of, a contravention of a law related to fisheries of a foreign state, any conservation or management measures of a fisheries management organization or an international fisheries treaty or arrangement to which Canada is party, including any conservation, management or enforcement measures taken under the treaty or arrangement, or there is in the other place any such fish, marine plant or other thing and that fish, marine plant or other thing is from the vessel; and

  • (b) the vessel’s flag state does not object to the search of the vessel.

• Marginal note:Presumption

  (4) The foreign fishing vessel’s flag state is deemed to not object to the search if the protection officer has informed the flag state of his or her intention to apply for the warrant referred to in subsection (3) and the flag state has not communicated its objection within the period prescribed by regulation.