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Northwest Territories Fishery Regulations (C.R.C., c. 847)

Regulations are current to 2024-10-02 and last amended on 2020-04-01. Previous Versions

Northwest Territories Fishery Regulations

C.R.C., c. 847

FISHERIES ACT

Northwest Territories Fishery Regulations

 [Repealed, SOR/2005-108, s. 2]

Interpretation

  •  (1) In these Regulations,

    Act

    Act means the Fisheries Act; (Loi)

    Agreement

    Agreement has the same meaning as in the Western Arctic (Inuvialuit) Claims Settlement Act; (Convention)

    angling

    angling means fishing with a line to which one or more hooks are attached and that is held in the hand or attached to a rod that is held in the hand or closely attended; (pêche à la ligne)

    Area

    Area means any portion of the waters described in Schedule II; (secteur)

    barbless hook

    barbless hook includes a hook that has all of its barbs compressed to be in complete contact with the shaft of the hook, except those barbs on the shank that are designed solely to retain bait; (hameçon sans ardillon)

    beneficiary

    beneficiary means a person who is enrolled as a beneficiary under the Agreement; (bénéficiaire)

    certificate

    certificate means a registration certificate issued pursuant to section 14.1; (certificat)

    commercial fishing

    commercial fishing means fishing for sale or barter; (pêche commerciale)

    commercial licence

    commercial licence means a licence authorizing a person to engage in commercial fishing; (permis de pêche commerciale)

    commercial licensee

    commercial licensee means a person to whom a commercial licence has been issued under the Act or these Regulations; (titulaire d’un permis de pêche commerciale)

    Department

    Department means the Department of the Environment; (ministère)

    domestic fishing

    domestic fishing means fishing for personal use but not for sale or barter; (pêche domestique)

    domestic fishing licence

    domestic fishing licence means a licence authorizing a person to engage in domestic fishing; (permis de pêche domestique)

    explosive

    explosive means a substance or device that, when detonated or fired, creates a violent shock wave in water; (explosif)

    fork length

    fork length means the length of a fish measured from the tip of the nose to the centre of the fork of the tail; (longueur à la fourche)

    game fish

    game fish means any fish named in Schedule I; (poisson gibier)

    gill net

    gill net means a net that catches fish by enmeshing them but that does not enclose an area of water; (filet maillant)

    hook

    hook means a single pointed or multiple-pointed hook on a common shaft and includes an artificial lure that has one or more hooks attached to it; (hameçon)

    Indian

    Indian means an Indian as defined in the Indian Act; (Indien)

    Inuk

    Inuk means a person who is a direct descendant of a person of the race of aborigines commonly known as Inuit; (Inuk)

    Inuvialuit Settlement Region

    Inuvialuit Settlement Region has the same meaning as in the Agreement; (région désignée)

    Minister

    Minister means the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans; (ministre)

    non-resident

    non-resident means a person other than a resident Canadian; (non-résident)

    Northwest Territories resident

    Northwest Territories resident means a resident Canadian who has resided continuously in the Northwest Territories for a period of,

    • (a) in respect of sport fishing, three months immediately preceding the day on which the person begins to fish; and

    • (b) in respect of commercial fishing, six months immediately preceding the day on which the person applies for a commercial fishing licence. (résident des Territoires du Nord-Ouest)

    officer

    officer means a fishery officer, fishery guardian or a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police; (fonctionnaire)

    permanent resident

    permanent resident [Revoked, SOR/93-59, s. 1]

    person of mixed blood

    person of mixed blood means a person of

    • (a) mixed Indian and non-Indian blood who is at least one-quarter Indian, or

    • (b) mixed Inuk and non-Inuk blood who is at least one-quarter Inuk; (personne de sang mêlé)

    Regional Director-General

    Regional Director-General means the Director-General of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans for the Central and Arctic Region; (directeur général régional)

    resident

    resident [Revoked, SOR/91-481, s. 1]

    resident Canadian

    resident Canadian means a person who is a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident; (résident canadien)

    snagging

    snagging means fishing by impaling a fish on a hook through some part of its body instead of luring the fish to take the hook into its mouth; (casaquer)

    special management area

    special management area means the waters described in an item in Schedule VIII; (secteur de gestion spécial)

    sport fish

    sport fish means fish that is taken for pleasure and not for sale or barter; (poisson de sport)

    sport fishing

    sport fishing means fishing for pleasure and not for sale or barter and includes angling, spear fishing and dip netting; (pêche sportive)

    sport fishing licence

    sport fishing licence means a sport fishing licence set out in Schedule IV that authorizes a person to engage in sport fishing; (permis de pêche sportive)

    subsistence usage

    subsistence usage has the same meaning as in paragraph (a) of the definition of that expression in the Agreement; (utilisation à des fins de subsistance)

    Tree River

    Tree River means

    • (a) the waters of Coronation Gulf within 3 km of a point at 67°45′N., 111°56′W.;

    • (b) all the waters of Port Epworth lying between lines of latitude at 67°45′N. and at 67°41′N.;

    • (c) the waters of the Tree River and its tributaries lying between lines of latitude at 67°41′N. and 67°37′N.; and

    • (d) all other waters that flow directly into any waters described in paragraphs (a), (b) or (c). (Rivière Tree)

  • (2) No Area shall be regarded as including any waters described in Schedule III.

  • SOR/79-485, s. 1
  • SOR/81-119, s. 1
  • SOR/91-428, s. 1
  • SOR/91-481, s. 1
  • SOR/93-59, ss. 1, 17(F)
  • SOR/2003-137, s. 2
  • SOR/2004-38, s. 1
  • SOR/2005-108, s. 3

Application

  •  (1) These Regulations apply in respect of

    • (a) Canadian fisheries waters in and adjacent to the Northwest Territories; and

    • (b) the tidal waters of the provinces of Ontario and Manitoba.

  • (2) These Regulations do not apply with respect to fishing and related activities carried out under the authority of a licence issued under the Aboriginal Communal Fishing Licences Regulations.

  • SOR/93-59, s. 2
  • SOR/2002-225, s. 1

General

 The Minister may issue a licence or certificate set out in column I of an item of Schedule IV on payment of the appropriate fee, if any, set out in column II of that item.

  • SOR/93-59, s. 2

 The licences referred to in paragraphs (c.1) and (e.1) of item 3 of Schedule IV are not valid in Nunavut waters.

  •  (1) No person shall fish except under the authority of a licence issued under these Regulations or under the Aboriginal Communal Fishing Licences Regulations.

  • (2) to (5) [Revoked, SOR/93-59, s. 3]

  • (6) No person shall fish in any lake that has been stocked with game fish except by angling.

  • (7) No person shall fish in any waters set out in Column I of an item of Schedule VII for the species of fish set out in Column II of that item by the method set out in Column IV of that item during the close time set out in Column III of that item.

  • (8) No person shall fish in the waters of Fish Creek at 67°43′42″ north latitude and 136°15′44″ west longitude, or in the waters of the Big Fish River at 68°39′48″ north latitude and 135°52′35″ west longitude, including all their tributaries, except for educational or scientific purposes under the authority of a licence.

  • SOR/78-519, s. 1
  • SOR/87-508, s. 1
  • SOR/93-59, s. 3
  • SOR/93-340, s. 1
  • SOR/2009-83, s. 1

 [Revoked, SOR/93-59, s. 4]

  •  (1) No person shall catch, kill, molest or injure fish by using firearms, spears, arrows, gaffs, lights, sticks, stones, clubs, snares, dip nets or gill nets except under the authority of a licence.

  • (2) No person shall fish by snagging.

  • (3) Notwithstanding subsection (1), dip nets may be used to land fish caught by angling.

  • SOR/93-59, s. 5

 A person who erects or maintains a structure for fishing upon the ice shall remove the structure at the direction of an officer.

 Except with the permission of an officer, no person shall leave a gill net in the water

  • (a) during the period from May 16th to October 31st inclusive, for more than 30 consecutive hours, or

  • (b) during the period from November 1st to May 15th inclusive, for more than 72 consecutive hours,

without withdrawing the net from the water and removing the fish therefrom.

  •  (1) No person shall dispose of dead fish or any remains or offal of fish by leaving it in the water or on ice over the water.

  • (2) When gurry grounds have been designated or defined by an officer, a person who has in his possession dead or decaying fish or remnants thereof or other refuse from fishing shall place that fish, remnants or refuse in the gurry ground.

Stream Crossings

  •  (1) No person shall construct a temporary crossing over any ice-covered stream, unless he

    • (a) uses snow or adds to the thickness of the ice by the use of snow or ice, or

    • (b) is authorized by an officer.

  • (2) [Revoked, SOR/93-59, s. 6]

  • SOR/93-59, s. 6

Logging and Gravel Removal

  •  (1) Where, in the opinion of the Minister, the fishery in any waters would be harmed by any of the following operations:

    • (a) placing logs in or releasing logs into those waters,

    • (b) driving, towing or booming logs in those waters,

    • (c) removing gravel from or displacing gravel in any spawning grounds in those waters, or

    • (d) any similar operation,

    he may authorize the placing of signs at appropriate places on the shore designating those waters as waters in respect of the fishery of which that operation is harmful.

  • (2) Where, pursuant to subsection (1), any waters have been designated in respect of any operation referred to therein, no person shall carry on any such operation in those waters.

Commercial Fishing

  •  (1) No person shall be issued a commercial licence to fish in the waters of Lac la Martre unless that person has resided continuously in the settlement of Lac la Martre for a period of not less than six months immediately preceding the day he applies for that licence.

  • (2) No person shall be issued a commercial licence to fish in the waters of Kakisa Lake unless that person has resided continuously in the settlement of Kakisa Lake for a period of not less than six months immediately preceding the day he applies for that licence.

 [Revoked, SOR/93-59, s. 7]

  •  (1) No person shall operate, for the purpose of commercial fishing on Great Slave Lake, a vessel or vehicle unless he is the holder of a valid commercial fishing licence and unless the vessel or vehicle has been registered by the Department for that purpose and a registration certificate bearing a registration number has been issued in respect of that vessel or vehicle.

  • (2) A Class A certificate may be issued only in respect of

    • (a) a vessel of more than 900 kg gross weight, when weighed with its attached mechanical equipment; or

    • (b) a vehicle of more than 900 kg gross weight.

  • (3) A Class B certificate may be issued in respect of vessels or vehicles other than those referred to in subsection (2).

  • (4) The holder of a certificate issued in respect of a vessel shall not permit the vessel to be operated in commercial fishing, unless the holder of a commercial fishing licence is on board.

  • (5) No person shall use a vehicle in fishing under subsection (1) unless the registration number issued under these Regulations in respect of that vehicle is painted on the vehicle or securely affixed to it by some other means and meets the requirements set out in subsection (5.1).

  • (5.1) A registration number referred to in subsection (5) shall be

    • (a) legible and unobstructed;

    • (b) in solid Arabic numerals of at least 15 cm in height that are without ornamentation;

    • (c) of a colour that contrasts with the background; and

    • (d) aligned horizontally.

  • (6) No person shall work on or fish from a vessel or vehicle engaged in commercial fishing on Great Slave Lake unless he is the holder of a commercial fishing licence or a helper’s licence.

  • (7) No person shall dump from a vehicle that is used in commercial fishing any fish that has been caught in accordance with these Regulations.

  • SOR/79-485, s. 2
  • SOR/81-468, s. 1
  • SOR/93-59, s. 8
 

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