Fishing Vessel Safety Regulations (C.R.C., c. 1486)

Marginal note:Responsibility

3.02 Unless otherwise indicated in this Part, the authorized representative and the master of a fishing vessel shall ensure that the requirements of this Part are met.

Division 1General Requirements

Safe Operation

Marginal note:Design, construction and equipment

• 3.03 (1) The authorized representative of a fishing vessel shall ensure that the vessel is designed, constructed and equipped to operate safely and be seaworthy in its area of operation.

• Marginal note:Safe operation and seaworthiness

  (2) If the Minister has reasonable grounds to believe that the design, construction or equipment of a fishing vessel adversely affects its safe operation or seaworthiness in its area of operation, the Minister shall request the authorized representative of the vessel to establish that the vessel meets the requirements of subsection (1).

Marginal note:Maintenance of machinery and equipment

• 3.04 (1) A fishing vessel, as well as its machinery and equipment, shall be maintained to ensure that it is in a safe operating condition.

• Marginal note:Maintenance records

  (2) The authorized representative of a fishing vessel shall maintain records on the maintenance of the vessel and of its machinery and equipment.

Prohibition — Operational Limits

Marginal note:Prohibition — freezing spray

• 3.05 (1) No person shall operate, or permit another person to operate, a fishing vessel in an area for which a freezing spray warning has been issued by Environment Canada unless the stability assessment for the vessel has demonstrated that the vessel has the capability to operate safely in freezing spray conditions when ice accretion is likely to occur.

• Marginal note:Accumulated ice

  (2) If a freezing spray warning has been issued by Environment Canada for an area in which a fishing vessel is operated or is intended to be operated, the vessel shall carry on board a means to remove accumulated ice from the vessel.

General Prohibitions

Marginal note:Before first putting into service

• 3.06 (1) The authorized representative of a fishing vessel shall not operate, or permit another person to operate, the fishing vessel unless, before the vessel is first put into service, its authorized representative has informed the Minister of

  • (a) the intention to operate the vessel or permit its operation;

  • (b) the physical characteristics of the vessel; and

  • (c) the nature of its operation.

• Marginal note:Information provided to Minister

  (2) The authorized representative of a fishing vessel shall provide the Minister, on request, with information respecting the physical characteristics of the fishing vessel and the nature of its operation.

Marginal note:Exceeding design limitations

3.07 No person shall operate, or permit another person to operate, a fishing vessel under circumstances that exceed its design limitations.

Marginal note:Careless operation

3.08 No person shall operate a fishing vessel in a careless manner, without due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for other persons.

Marginal note:Safety of persons on board jeopardized

3.09 No person shall operate, or permit another person to operate, a fishing vessel in environmental conditions or circumstances that could jeopardize the safety of persons on board unless a lifejacket required by this Part, or a personal flotation device that meets the requirements of section 3.2, is worn

• (a) by all persons on board, in the case of a fishing vessel that has no deck or deck structure; or

• (b) by all persons on the deck or in the cockpit, in the case of a fishing vessel that has a deck or deck structure.

General Requirements

Marginal note:Openings closed at sea

3.1 When a fishing vessel is at sea, openings on the vessel that are exposed to the weather and to the sea and that can be closed shall be kept closed unless they must be kept open for the operation of the vessel, in which case they shall be closed immediately if there is a danger of water entering the interior spaces of the hull.

Marginal note:Stowage of tools and spare parts

3.11 Tools and spare parts necessary for performing routine maintenance on and minor repairs to machinery, electrical equipment and installations shall be carried on board a fishing vessel and securely stowed in a readily accessible location.

Marginal note:Record of modifications affecting stability

3.12 The authorized representative of a fishing vessel shall ensure that a record is kept of any modification or series of modifications that affects the stability of the vessel. The record shall be in the form and manner specified by the Minister.

Fuel

Marginal note:Engine space blower

3.13 No person shall start a gasoline-powered fishing vessel unless the engine space blower has been operated for a period of not less than four minutes immediately before the engine is started.

Marginal note:Leakage of fuel

• 3.14 (1) No person shall permit fuel leakage within or from a fishing vessel.

• Marginal note:Discharge of fuel or oil

  (2) No person shall permit fuel or oil to be discharged from a fishing vessel except in accordance with the provisions relating to discharges of oil or oily mixtures in section 5 of Part 1 and Subdivision 4 of Division 1 of Part 2 of the Vessel Pollution and Dangerous Chemicals Regulations.

• Marginal note:Fuelling

  (3) No person shall fuel a gasoline-powered fishing vessel that is at dockside or beached unless

  • (a) if the vessel is equipped with a portable fuel tank, the tank is first removed from it; or

  • (b) if the vessel is equipped with a fixed fuel tank, the person fuelling the vessel is the only person on board.

• Marginal note:Fuelling — fixed fuel tank

  (4) No person shall fuel a gasoline-powered fishing vessel that is equipped with a fixed fuel tank unless all electrical equipment is switched off, all doors, windows and ports are closed, all engines are shut off and all open flames, including pilot lights, are extinguished.

• Marginal note:Portable container

  (5) No person shall carry liquid fuel on board a fishing vessel in a portable container that has not been designed to carry the fuel.

• Marginal note:Storage of portable fuel tank

  (6) A portable fuel tank containing fuel and carried on board a fishing vessel shall be stored as far away as practicable from heat and ignition sources, machinery spaces and crew’s quarters.

• Marginal note:Filling of fixed fuel tank

  (7) No person shall fill a fixed fuel tank on board a fishing vessel by means of a funnel, nozzle or similar device unless continuous contact is maintained between the shipboard filling pipe and the filling device immediately prior to and during the fuelling operation.

Marginal note:Portable fuel-burning equipment or appliance

3.15 Any portable fuel-burning equipment or appliance used on a fishing vessel shall be

• (a) used only in a well-ventilated location that is in an open space or on an open deck;

• (b) well secured to prevent its movement while in use; and

• (c) when not in use, stored in a well-ventilated location that is isolated from heat and ignition sources.

Safety Procedures

Marginal note:Written safety procedures

• 3.16 (1) Safety procedures shall be established in writing, in English or French or in both, according to the needs of the crew, and implemented to familiarize persons on board a fishing vessel with

  • (a) the location and use of all safety equipment;

  • (b) all the measures that must be taken to protect persons on board, in particular measures to prevent persons from falling overboard, measures to retrieve persons who have fallen overboard, measures to protect limbs from rotating equipment, and measures to avoid ropes, docking lines, nets and other fishing equipment that may pose a safety hazard to persons on board;

  • (c) in the case of beam trawling and purse seining operations, the quick release of loads that can be activated in an emergency;

  • (d) all the measures that must be taken to prevent fires and explosions on the vessel;

  • (e) if the vessel has a deck or deck structure, all the measures that must be taken to maintain watertightness and weathertightness and to prevent flooding of the interior spaces of the hull or, if the vessel has no deck or deck structure, all the measures that must be taken to prevent swamping of the vessel;

  • (f) all the measures that must be taken to ensure safe loading, stowage and unloading of fish catches, baits and consumables; and

  • (g) the operation of towing and lifting equipment and the measures that must be taken to prevent overloading of the vessel.

• Marginal note:Drills on procedures

  (2) Drills on the safety procedures shall be held to ensure that the crew is at all times proficient in carrying out those procedures.

• Marginal note:Record of drills

  (3) A record shall be kept of every drill.

Records

Marginal note:Record keeping — maintenance and drills

• 3.17 (1) A record on the maintenance of a fishing vessel and a record of a drill on the safety procedures shall be kept for a period of seven years after the day on which it is established.

• Marginal note:Record of modifications affecting stability

  (2) In the case of a fishing vessel that has undergone a stability assessment, a record of a modification or series of modifications that affects the stability of the vessel shall be kept until the vessel undergoes a new stability assessment that takes into account the modification or series of modifications.

• Marginal note:Transfer of ownership

  (3) When ownership of a fishing vessel is transferred, the authorized representative of the vessel shall provide the new owner with any records kept in respect of the vessel.

Division 2Safety Equipment

Requirements

Marginal note:Prohibition

• 3.18 (1) No person shall operate, or permit another person to operate, a fishing vessel unless the safety equipment required by this Division is carried on board the vessel and the equipment meets the requirements of this Division.

• Marginal note:Replacement of safety equipment

  (2) However, equipment that was acquired before the day on which this Division comes into force may replace any safety equipment required by this Division if the equipment meets the requirements of these Regulations as they read before that day and if the equipment is in good working order or, in the case of equipment that bears an expiry date, that date has not expired.

• Marginal note:Quantity in excess — previously acquired equipment

  (3) Any equipment that exceeds the quantity of safety equipment required and that was acquired before the day on which this Division comes into force may be carried on board a fishing vessel if the equipment meets the requirements of these Regulations as they read before that day and if the equipment is in good working order or, in the case of equipment that bears an expiry date, that date has not expired.

• Marginal note:Quantity in excess — recently acquired equipment

  (4) Any equipment that exceeds the quantity of safety equipment required and that was acquired on or after the day on which this Division comes into force may be carried on board a fishing vessel if the equipment meets the requirements of this Division.

• Marginal note:Other equipment

  (5) Any equipment that is not of a type referred to in this Division may be carried on board a fishing vessel if the equipment is not likely to be confused with safety equipment.