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Pacific Fishery Regulations, 1993 (SOR/93-54)

Regulations are current to 2024-10-30 and last amended on 2023-06-23. Previous Versions

PART IIRegistration and Licensing of Fishers and Vessels

Issuance of Registration Cards, Registration Certificates and Licences

  •  (1) The Minister may issue a fisher’s registration card, a vessel registration certificate or a licence referred to in column I of an item of Part I of Schedule II upon application therefor and payment of the fee set out in column II of that item.

  • (2) Where, pursuant to subsection (1), the Minister issues a fisher’s registration card to a person or a vessel registration certificate in respect of a vessel, that person or vessel is deemed to be registered with the Department.

  • (3) If an Indian or the Northern Native Fishing Corporation is issued a Category A licence in respect of a vessel, the Indian or the Corporation must elect to pay either the applicable fee set out in subitem 3(1) of Part I of Schedule II or the applicable fee set out in subitem 3(2) of that Part.

  • (4) Where a vessel in respect of which a Category A licence was issued after December 31, 1979 for the fee set out in subitem 3(2) of Part I of Schedule II is sold to a person other than an Indian or the Northern Native Fishing Corporation, the Category A licence is void.

Registration Certificate Invalid

  •  (1) A vessel registration certificate issued in respect of a vessel becomes invalid if the vessel is modified so that the tonnage or length of the vessel differs from that set out in the vessel registration certificate.

  • (2) Where a vessel registration certificate becomes invalid pursuant to subsection (1),

    • (a) the vessel registration certificate and all licences issued in respect of the vessel shall be returned to the Minister within seven days after the day on which the certificate becomes invalid; and

    • (b) no person shall use the vessel in commercial fishing until a new vessel registration certificate has been issued in respect of it.

 [Repealed, SOR/96-330, s. 2]

Registration and Licence Required

  •  (1) No person shall use a vessel, and no owner or lessee of a vessel shall permit the use of that vessel, in commercial fishing for any species of fish unless

    • (a) subject to subsection (2), the vessel is registered; and

    • (b) the use of the vessel to fish for that species of fish is authorized by a commercial fishing licence.

  • (2) A person may use an unregistered vessel in commercial fishing for roe herring with a gill net or when fishing in non-tidal waters.

  •  (1) Subject to subsection (2), no person shall use a vessel to process fish unless

    • (a) the vessel is registered; and

    • (b) a Category P licence has been issued in respect of the vessel.

  • (2) Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of washing, eviscerating, icing or freezing fish, other than bivalve molluscs, on board the vessel that was used to catch the fish.

 No person shall use a vessel to transport from fishing grounds fish that were taken in commercial fishing unless the vessel is registered and

  • (a) is licensed to be used in commercial fishing; or

  • (b) a Category D licence has been issued in respect of the vessel.

 A person who is 16 years of age or older shall not engage in commercial fishing or be on board a vessel that is being used in commercial fishing unless they hold a fisher’s registration card.

  •  (1) Subject to subsection (2), no person shall fish except under the authority of a licence issued under these Regulations, the Fishery (General) Regulations or the Aboriginal Communal Fishing Licences Regulations.

  • (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a person who is registered and who is engaged in commercial fishing for a species of fish from a registered vessel that is authorized by a commercial fishing licence to be used in fishing for that species.

  • SOR/93-334, s. 4

PART III[Repealed, SOR/93-334, s. 5]

PART IVFish Other than Halibut, Herring, Salmon and Shellfish

 [Repealed, SOR/2003-137, s. 20]

Close Times

[
  • SOR/94-57, s. 1
]

 No person shall catch and retain a species of fish set out in column I of an item of Schedule III from the waters set out in column II of that item with the type of fishing gear set out in column III of that item during the close time set out in column IV of that item.

 [Repealed, SOR/94-57, s. 2]

 [Repealed, SOR/99-296, s. 6]

Lingcod

 No person shall catch and retain a lingcod that is less than

  • (a) 58 cm in length, measured from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail; or

  • (b) where the head has been removed, 45 cm in length, measured along the shortest length of the body to the tip of the tail.

Sablefish

  •  (1) No person shall catch and retain a sablefish that is less than

    • (a) 55 cm in length, measured from the tip of the nose to the fork of the tail; or

    • (b) where the head has been removed, 39 cm in length, measured from the origin of the first dorsal fin to the fork of the tail.

  • (2) [Repealed, SOR/99-296, s. 7]

  • SOR/99-296, s. 7

Smelt

  •  (1) No person shall fish for smelt with

    • (a) a gill net that

      • (i) is more than 275 m in length,

      • (ii) has a mesh size of less than 25 mm, or

      • (iii) has a mesh size of more than 50 mm; or

    • (b) a seine that

      • (i) is more than 90 m in length, or

      • (ii) has a mesh size of less than 19 mm.

  • (2) No person shall fish for smelt with an anchored gill net in any Area other than Areas 28 and 29.

  • (3) No person shall fish for smelt in Area 28 or 29 during the period beginning at 08:00 h on Thursday and ending at 08:00 h on the following Monday.

 [Repealed, SOR/99-296, s. 8]

PART VHerring

 [Repealed, SOR/2003-137, s. 21]

Close Times

 No person shall fish for or catch and retain herring under the authority of a licence set out in column I of an item of Schedule V from the waters set out in column II of that item with the type of fishing gear set out in column III of that item during the close time set out in column IV of that item.

 Where notified by a fishery officer or fishery guardian that a roe herring fishery is about to be opened in an area, a person who is operating a fishing vessel in that area shall, unless the vessel is authorized to be used in the roe herring fishery in that area pursuant to a Category H licence, remove the vessel from the area until the fishery has opened.

Herring Spawning Grounds

  •  (1) A fishery officer may designate an area as a herring spawning ground and establish the boundaries of the area and the period of time for which the area is designated as a herring spawning ground.

  • (2) Where an area is designated as a herring spawning ground under subsection (1), notice of the designation shall be given by the fishery officer to the persons affected or likely to be affected by the designation by one or more of the methods set out in respect of the variation of close times in section 7 of the Fishery (General) Regulations.

  • (3) No person shall, in an area designated as a herring spawning ground under subsection (1),

    • (a) transfer herring from one vessel to another; or

    • (b) anchor any fishing vessel or any other vessel used to assist in herring fishing.

 [Repealed, SOR/99-296, s. 9]

 [Repealed, SOR/99-296, s. 10]

Herring Enclosures

  •  (1) No person shall establish or operate a herring enclosure unless authorized to do so under a Category J or Z licence.

  • (2) and (3) [Repealed, SOR/99-296, s. 11]

  • SOR/93-334, s. 6
  • SOR/99-296, s. 11

Release of Herring from Herring Enclosure

  •  (1) Where a fishery officer has evidence of excessive mortality of herring in a herring enclosure, the fishery officer may direct the operator of the enclosure to release all herring contained therein and, where the operator of the enclosure cannot be readily located, may release the herring from the enclosure.

  • (2) No person shall fail to comply with a direction given under subsection (1).

  • (3) Where a fishery officer releases herring from a herring enclosure under subsection (1), the fishery officer shall, as soon as practicable, notify the operator of the enclosure of the release.

Herring Spawn on Kelp

 [Repealed, SOR/99-296, s. 12]

 No person shall transport herring spawn on kelp in any container that is not marked with the number of the licence under the authority of which the herring spawn on kelp was taken or collected.

 [Repealed, SOR/99-296, s. 13]

PART VISalmon

 [Repealed, SOR/2003-137, s. 22]

General

 [Repealed, SOR/99-296, s. 14]

 No person shall drive or attempt to drive salmon from one area of water to another.

Salmon Fishing Boundaries

  •  (1) A fishery officer may designate a salmon fishing boundary by erecting or causing to be erected

    • (a) in respect of tidal waters, not more than one nautical mile from the mouth of a river, creek or stream, two orange- or yellow-coloured triangular signs, each side of which is at least 1.5 m in length and 12 cm in width; and

    • (b) in respect of non-tidal waters, orange-coloured triangular signs, each side of which is at least 50 cm in length.

  • (2) No person shall fish for salmon

    • (a) in tidal waters within a circle, the diameter of which is the straight line between two orange-coloured signs erected under paragraph (1)(a);

    • (b) in tidal waters between the mouth of a river, creek or stream and the straight line between two yellow-coloured signs erected under paragraph (1)(a); or

    • (c) in any non-tidal waters other than waters bounded by orange-coloured signs erected under paragraph (1)(b).

Salmon Close Times

  •  (1) No person shall fish in any waters set out in column I of an item of Part I of Schedule VI for the species of salmon set out in column II of that item with the type of fishing gear set out in column III of that item during the close time set out in column IV of that item.

  • (2) No person shall troll in any waters set out in column I of an item of Part II of Schedule VI for the species of salmon set out in column II of that item using the type of vessel set out in column III of that item during the close time set out in column IV of that item.

  •  (1) Where a close time set out in Part I of Schedule VI is varied pursuant to section 6 of the Fishery (General) Regulations to permit salmon fishing by gill net, the notice referred to in section 7 of the Fishery (General) Regulations shall specify one of the gill net mesh sizes set out in column I, one of the maximum gill net depth limits set out in column II, one of the maximum gill net hang ratios set out in column III, one of the minimum corkline to web distances set out in column V and one of the maximum corkline to web distances set out in column VI of the table to this section.

  • (2) Where a close time has been varied to permit salmon fishing with a gill net in accordance with subsection (1), no person shall fish for salmon with a gill net that has

    • (a) any meshes that are not contiguous and uniform in size;

    • (b) a mesh size other than that specified in the notice;

    • (c) a depth greater than the maximum depth specified in the notice;

    • (d) webbing with a total length, when compared to the length of the corkline to which it is hung, in a ratio greater than the maximum hang ratio specified in the notice; or

    • (e) a corkline to web distance less than the minimum corkline to web distance or greater than the maximum corkline to web distance specified in the notice.

  • (3) Where a close time set out in an item of Part I of Schedule VI is varied pursuant to section 6 of the Fishery (General) Regulations to permit salmon fishing with a purse seine, the notice referred to in section 7 of the Fishery (General) Regulations shall specify one of the minimum purse seine bunt mesh sizes set out in column IV of the table to this section.

  • (4) Where a close time has been varied to permit salmon fishing with a purse seine in accordance with subsection (3), no person shall fish for salmon with a purse seine that has, in the final 18 m of the bunt, a mesh size that is less than the minimum bunt mesh size specified in the notice.

    TABLE

    Column IColumn IIColumn IIIColumn IVColumn VColumn VI
    Gill Net Mesh SizesMaximum Gill Net Depth LimitsMaximum Gill Net Hang RatiosMinimum Purse Seine Bunt Mesh SizesMinimum Corkline to Web DistancesMaximum Corkline to Web Distances
    Not exceeding 114 mm60 meshes1:1100 mm0 cm0 cm
    Not exceeding 121 mm90 meshes1.5:170 mm45 cm45 cm
    Not exceeding 124 mm2:176 cm76 cm
    Not exceeding 127 mm2.5:11.0 m1.0 m
    Not exceeding 133 mm3:11.2 m1.2 m
    Not exceeding 137 mm1.5 m1.5 m
    Not exceeding 140 mm2.0 m2.0 m
    Not exceeding 150 mm
    Not exceeding 165 mm
    Not exceeding 188 mm
    Not exceeding 216 mm
    Not less than 100 mm
    Not less than 149 mm
    Not less than 158 mm
    Not less than 171 mm
    Not less than 203 mm
    Not less than 216 mm
 

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