Fishery (General) Regulations (SOR/93-53)

Amending Documents

• 14 (1) Notwithstanding paragraph 15(1)(a), a fishery officer who is employed by the Department or any employee of the Department engaged in the issuance of documents may, on the request of the holder of a document,

  • (a) amend the document and sign and date the amendment; or

  • (b) cancel the document and issue a replacement document.

• (2) Where a document contains an error or was issued in error, a fishery officer or an employee referred to in subsection (1) may request the holder of the document to surrender it.

• (3) Where the holder of a document receives a request referred to in subsection (2), that person shall immediately comply with the request.

Alteration and Use of Documents

• 15 (1) No person shall

  • (a) alter or deface any document;

  • (b) use or produce any document that has been altered or defaced; or

  • (c) use or produce any document issued to another person under the pretence of being the holder thereof.

• (2) No holder of a fisher’s registration card shall permit another person to use that registration card.

• (3) Where a licence specifies the person or persons who may fish under the licence, the holder of that licence shall not permit any person other than the person or persons so specified to use that licence.

Transfer of Documents and Rights and Privileges

• 16 (1) A document is the property of the Crown and is not transferable.

• (2) The issuance of a document of any type to any person does not imply or confer any future right or privilege for that person to be issued a document of the same type or any other type.

Change of Name or Address and Replacement of Documents

• 17 (1) Where a person is the holder of a document and has a change of name or address, or the document is lost, stolen or destroyed or becomes illegible, that person shall notify the Minister in writing within 15 days after the occurrence of the event and the Minister may issue a replacement document showing any applicable changes.

• (2) On receipt of a replacement document, the holder shall immediately return to the Department the document being replaced if it is still in the holder’s possession.

• (3) A holder of a replacement document who recovers the document that was replaced shall immediately return it to the Department.

Transfer of Ownership or Loss of Vessel

• 18 (1) Where there is a transfer of ownership of a registered vessel or a loss, destruction, dismantling or other removal of a registered vessel from use as a fishing vessel, the person in whose name the vessel is registered shall

  • (a) notify the Minister in writing of the event within 15 days after the occurrence of the event; and

  • (b) where the person is still in possession of the vessel registration card or any licence issued in respect of the vessel, return the document to the Minister with the notification required under paragraph (a).

• (2) A notification of transfer of ownership given under paragraph (1)(a) shall include the name and address of the new owner.

19 Where there is a transfer of ownership of a registered vessel and the vessel is not registered in the name of the new owner,

• (a) no person shall use that vessel as a fishing vessel; and

• (b) the new owner of that vessel shall not permit another person to use the vessel as a fishing vessel.

20 Where a transfer of ownership of a registered vessel is to take place and it is not intended that the vessel will be used in any activity that requires the vessel to be registered, the person in whose name the vessel is registered shall, prior to the transfer, remove the vessel registration number that is painted on or affixed to the vessel in accordance with section 26.

21 Where there is a change in the registered ownership of shares of a corporation that holds a licence that results in a different person being the registered owner of the largest number of shares of the corporation or that results in any one person being the registered owner of more than 50 per cent of the shares of that corporation, the corporation shall notify the Minister in writing of the change within 15 days after the date of the change.

Conditions of Licences

• 22 (1) For the proper management and control of fisheries and the conservation and protection of fish, the Minister may specify in a licence any condition that is not inconsistent with these Regulations or any of the Regulations listed in subsection 3(4) and in particular, but not restricting the generality of the foregoing, may specify conditions respecting any of the following matters:

  • (a) the species of fish and quantities thereof that are permitted to be taken or transported;

  • (b) the age, sex, stage of development or size of fish that are permitted to be taken or transported;

  • (c) the waters in which fishing is permitted to be carried out;

  • (d) the location from which and to which fish is permitted to be transported;

  • (e) the vessel from which and to which fish is permitted to be transhipped;

  • (f) the period during which fishing or transporting fish is permitted to be carried out;

  • (g) the vessel that is permitted to be used and the persons who are permitted to operate it;

  • (h) the type, size and quantity of fishing gear and equipment that is permitted to be used and the manner in which it is permitted to be used;

  • (i) the specific location at which fishing gear is permitted to be set;

  • (j) the distance to be maintained between fishing gear;

  • (k) information that the holder of the licence shall report to the Department prior to commencement of a fishing trip with respect to where and when fishing will be carried out, including the method by which, the times at which and the person to whom the report is to be made;

  • (l) information that the master of the vessel shall report to the Department from sea, including the method by which, the times at which and the person to whom the report is to be made;

  • (m) the location and times at which landing of fish from the vessel is permitted;

  • (n) verification by an observer of the weight and species of any fish caught and retained;

  • (o) the method permitted for landing of fish from the vessel and the method by which the weight of the fish is to be determined;

  • (p) records that the master of the vessel shall keep of any fishing activity carried out under the licence or of the sale or transporting of fish caught under the licence, including the manner and form in which the records are to be kept, the times at which and the person to whom the records are to be produced and the period for which the records are to be retained;

  • (q) the type, size and colour of containers to hold or transport fish and the marking of such containers for identification of the source of the fish;

  • (r) the marking or tagging of fish for identification of the source of the fish;

  • (s) the segregation of fish by species on board the vessel;

  • (t) the time within which findings and data obtained as a result of fishing for an experimental or scientific purpose are to be forwarded to the Minister;

  • (u) the manner in which fish caught for an educational or public display purpose are to be held and transported;

  • (v) the species and quantities of fish that may be released or transferred under a licence issued under Part VIII;

  • (w) the period during which the release or transfer of fish is to be carried out under a licence issued under Part VIII;

  • (x) the waters or fish rearing facility into which the fish are to be released or transferred under a licence issued under Part VIII;

  • (y) the waters or fish rearing facility from which the fish are to be taken under a licence issued under Part VIII;

  • (z) the method and manner of transporting the fish to be released or transferred under a licence issued under Part VIII; and

  • (z.1) the method of disposing of any water, container or other material used in the transporting of fish under a licence issued under Part VIII.

• (2) The Minister may, for the purposes of the conservation and protection of fish, amend the conditions of a licence.

• (3) A notice of any amendment referred to in subsection (2) shall be

  • (a) sent to the licence holder by registered mail; or

  • (b) personally delivered to the licence holder by a fishery officer.

• (4) An amendment referred to in subsection (2) is effective from the time the licence holder receives the notice referred to in subsection (3).

• (5) A notice referred to in subsection (3) forms part of the licence to which it relates and the licence holder shall, on receipt of such a notice, attach the notice to the licence.

• (6) Compliance with the Act and the regulations made under the Act is a condition of every licence.

• (7) No person carrying out any activity under the authority of a licence shall contravene or fail to comply with any condition of the licence.

• 23 (1) This section does not apply in respect of a licence issued for the purpose of recreational or sport fishing.

• (2) Where the holder of a licence or the operator named in a licence is unable to engage in the activity authorized by the licence or use the vessel specified in the licence because of circumstances beyond the control of the holder or operator, a fishery officer who is employed by the Department or any employee of the Department engaged in the issuance of licences may, on the request of the holder or the holder’s agent, authorize in writing

  • (a) another person to carry out the activity under the licence; or

  • (b) the use of another vessel under the licence.

• (3) Where an authorization is given under subsection (2), the authorization forms part of the licence and the person given the authorization shall attach it to the licence.

Suspension or Cancellation of Licences

• 24 (1) Where considering suspending or cancelling a lease or licence under section 9 of the Act, the Minister shall notify the holder thereof in writing by

  • (a) sending a notice by registered mail to the holder; or

  • (b) having a fishery officer personally deliver a notice to the holder or, if the holder cannot conveniently be found, leave a notice for the holder at the holder’s last known place of abode with any person who resides therein who appears to be at least 16 years of age.

• (2) A notice referred to in subsection (1) shall set out the reasons for the suspension or cancellation being considered and the period of suspension or the effective date of cancellation, as the case may be.

• (3) Where the holder of a lease or licence receives a notice referred to in subsection (1), the holder may, in writing and within 30 days after receiving the notice, make representations to the Minister.

• (4) Where the Minister receives representations pursuant to subsection (3), the Minister shall, within a reasonable time, review the matter and, in writing, inform the holder referred to in subsection (3) of the decision.

• 25 (1) Where a licence is suspended or cancelled under section 9 or 79.1 of the Act, the holder of the licence shall

  • (a) immediately surrender the licence to a fishery officer; and

  • (b) immediately remove from the water all fishing gear operated under the licence.

• (2) No person whose licence is suspended under section 9 or 79.1 of the Act shall, during the period of suspension,

  • (a) engage in fishing for any species of fish for which fishing was authorized by the licence; or

  • (b) be on board a vessel engaged in fishing for any species of fish for which fishing was authorized by the licence.

• (3) No person whose licence is cancelled under section 9 or 79.1 of the Act shall, during the remaining period for which the licence was issued,

  • (a) engage in fishing for any species of fish for which fishing was authorized by the licence; or

  • (b) be on board a vessel engaged in fishing for any species of fish for which fishing was authorized by the licence.

PART IIIIdentification of Fishing Vessels and Fishing Gear

Identification of Fishing Vessels

• 26 (1) No person shall operate or cause to be operated a registered vessel

  • (a) on which the vessel registration number is not painted or securely affixed by some other means; or

  • (b) that displays a vessel registration number that does not meet the requirements set out in subsection (2).

• (2) A vessel registration number shall be

  • (a) legible and unobstructed when viewed from an aircraft in flight, from another vessel or from shore;

  • (b) in solid Arabic numerals without ornamentation;

  • (c) white on a black background or black on a white background;

  • (d) aligned horizontally;

  • (e) of dimensions in accordance with the table to this subsection and subsections (4) and (5); and

  • (f) located on the vessel in accordance with subsection (6).

    Item	Column I	Column II
    	Overall length of vessel	Minimum height of numerals
    1	25 m or more	1.0 m
    2	20 m or more but less than 25 m	0.8 m
    3	15 m or more but less than 20 m	0.6 m
    4	12 m or more but less than 15 m	0.4 m
    5	5 m or more but less than 12 m	0.3 m
    6	Less than 5 m	0.1 m

• (2.1) Where compliance with paragraph (2)(e) is impossible because of a vessel’s structural characteristics, the vessel registration number may be of dimensions that are smaller than those prescribed in this section if the numerals are of the greatest dimensions permitted by the vessel’s structural characteristics.

• (3) For the purpose of subsections (4) and (5), “h” is the height of the numerals forming the vessel registration number.

• (4) The numerals forming the vessel registration number shall

  • (a) have a stroke width of h/6; and

  • (b) be spaced apart not less than h/6 and not more than h/4.

• (5) The background shall extend to provide a border of not less than h/6 around the vessel registration number.

• (6) The vessel registration number shall be located as high as is practicable on both sides of the vessel.

• (7) Subject to subsection (8), no person shall operate or cause to be operated a fishing vessel that displays, on the exterior of the vessel, any number other than the vessel registration number.

• (8) Subsection (7) does not apply with respect to

  • (a) a foreign fishing vessel operating under a licence issued under the Coastal Fisheries Protection Regulations; or

  • (b) a vessel displaying a licence number in accordance with the Small Vessel Regulations.