Maritime Provinces Fishery Regulations (SOR/93-55)

Short Title

1 These Regulations may be cited as the Maritime Provinces Fishery Regulations.

Interpretation

• 2 (1) In these Regulations,

  Act

  Act means the Fisheries Act; (Loi)

  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 ligneouà la ligne)

  artificial fly

  artificial fly means a single hook, a double hook or two single hooks that are dressed with materials likely to attract fish and to which no weight, spinning device or natural bait is attached; (mouche artificielle)

  bag net

  bag net means a net

  • (a) that is attached to stakes or buoys,

  • (b) the bag of which floats with the tide or current, and

  • (c) that is used to catch fish without enmeshing them; (filet à poche)

  brook trout

  brook trout includes any hybrid of brook trout, but does not include splake; (omble de fontaine)

  clams

  clams includes bar clams, bay quahaugs, razor clams and soft-shell clams; (clams)

  day

  day means a calendar day; (jour ou journée)

  Department

  Department means the Department of Fisheries and Oceans; (ministère)

  dip net

  dip net means a bag-like net that is

  • (a) fixed to a frame to which a handle is attached, and

  • (b) manipulated by hand to catch fish without enmeshing them; (épuisette)

  drag rake

  drag rake means a device used in fishing for shellfish that is towed along the bed of the water by a vessel, but does not include a hydraulic device or a mechanical device; (râteau traînant)

  drift net

  drift net means a gill net that drifts in the water, whether or not it is attached to a vessel, and includes a gill net that is not anchored at both ends; (filet dérivant)

  foreign fishing vessel

  foreign fishing vessel has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Coastal Fisheries Protection Act; (bateau de pêche étranger)

  gill net

  gill net means a net by which fish are caught by being enmeshed and that does not enclose an area of water; (filet maillant)

  hook

  hook, in relation to angling, means a single, double or treble hook, with or without barbs, on one shank or shaft; (hameçon)

  hydraulic device

  hydraulic device means a device used in fishing for shellfish whereby the shellfish are lifted from the bed of the water by the use of water under pressure; (dispositif hydraulique)

  Indian food fishing

  Indian food fishing[Repealed, SOR/93-335, s. 1]

  inland waters

  inland waters means

  • (a) all waters of a river, stream or brook set out in column I of an item of Schedule II that are upstream of the boundary or reference point, as the case may be, set out in column II of that item, including any waters tributary thereto that are upstream of that boundary or reference point, and

  • (b) in any case not referred to in paragraph (a), all waters that are upstream of the low-water mark at the time of low water as set out in the Canadian Tide and Current Tables published by the Department; (eaux intérieures)

  jigging

  jigging means fishing by manipulating one or more hooks so as to pierce a fish in any part of its body instead of luring the fish to take the hook or hooks into its mouth; (pêche à la turlutte)

  landlocked salmon

  landlocked salmon means non-anadromous salmon; (ouananiche)

  leased oyster area

  leased oyster area means an area for which a special licence or lease has been granted to a person under section 58 or 59 of the Act for the purpose of planting or forming oyster beds or for the cultivation and production of oysters; (secteur ostréicole amodié)

  length

  length means

  • (a) in relation to an eel, the distance measured in a straight line from the tip of the nose to the tip of the caudal fin,

  • (b) in relation to a salmon or a landlocked salmon, the distance measured in a straight line from the tip of the nose to the fork of the tail,

  • (c) in relation to a shellfish, the distance measured in a straight line through the longest part of the shell, and

  • (d) in relation to any other fish referred to in these Regulations, the distance measured in a straight line from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail; (longueur)

  longline

  longline means a line to which two or more hooks are attached at intervals and that is anchored to the bed of the water; (palangre)

  mechanical device

  mechanical device means any device or equipment used in fishing for shellfish that is not

  • (a) hand-held,

  • (b) a drag rake, or

  • (c) a hydraulic device; (dispositif mécanique)

  mesh size

  mesh size has the same meaning as in subsection 2(1) of the Atlantic Fishery Regulations, 1985; (maillage)

  open season

  open season means a period of time during which no close time applies; (période d’ouverture)

  province

  province means, except in the definition salmon tag, the province of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick or Prince Edward Island; (province)

  public oyster-fishing area

  public oyster-fishing area means any area that is not a leased oyster area; (gisement public de pêche des huîtres)

  recreational fishing

  recreational fishing means fishing solely for pleasure or fishing to catch fish solely for personal use; (pêche récréative)

  Regional Director-General

  Regional Director-General[Repealed, SOR/2001-452, s. 1]

  registration card

  registration card means a fisher’s registration card or a vessel registration card issued under section 5 or under the Atlantic Fishery Regulations, 1985; (carte d’enregistrement)

  salmon

  salmon means anadromous salmon; (saumon)

  salmon tag

  salmon tag means a tag that is designed to be affixed to a salmon to identify the source and year of capture of the salmon and that

  • (a) is issued with a licence, written permission or other document under the authority of which the salmon was caught that is issued under

    • (i) the Act or the regulations made thereunder,

    • (ii) the National Parks Act or the regulations made thereunder,

    • (iii) an Act of the legislature of a province of Canada or the regulations made thereunder, or

    • (iv) the laws of any country other than Canada,

  • (b) is legible, and

  • (c) has not been tampered with; (étiquette à saumon)

  set line

  set line means a line that is not attached to a rod or held in the hand and to which only one hook with a single point or barb is attached; (ligne fixe)

  shellfish

  shellfish means clams, mussels and oysters; (mollusques et crustacés)

  splake

  splake means a trout that is a cross between a male brook trout and a female lake trout; (truite moulac)

  sport fish

  sport fish means smallmouth bass, landlocked salmon, salmon and trout; (poisson de sport)

  square net

  square net means a net made of wire or twine and attached to a pole that is manipulated on a pivot so as to lower and raise the net in the water to catch fish without enmeshing them; (carrelet)

  tidal waters

  tidal waters means, in relation to a county or province, all waters, other than inland waters, that are

  • (a) within that county or province, or

  • (b) adjacent to that county or province and closer to that county or province than to any other county or province; (eaux à marée)

  trap net

  trap net means a net that is set so as to enclose an area of water into which fish are guided through an opening or openings by one or more leaders, including what is commonly referred to as a box net but not including an eel trap; (trappe en filet)

  trout

  trout means Arctic char, brook trout, brown trout, lake trout and rainbow trout; (truite)

  weir

  weir has the same meaning as in subsection 2(1) of the Atlantic Fishery Regulations, 1985; (bordigue)

  whitefish

  whitefish means lake whitefish and round whitefish. (corégone)

• (2) A reference in these Regulations to a species or group of species of fish by its common name as set out in column I of an item of Schedule I shall be construed as a reference to the species or group of species whose scientific name is set out in column II that item.

• (3) A reference in these Regulations to the weight of fish shall be construed as a reference to the weight of the fish in a completely unprocessed state.

• (4) A reference in these Regulations to a grid reference is a grid reference based on the Universal Transverse Mercator Grid system expressed in the North American Datum 1927 (NAD 27) used in the National Topographic Series Maps, Scale 1:50,000, published by the Department of Natural Resources.

• (5) Unless otherwise provided or a contrary intention appears, a reference in these Regulations to a river, stream or brook by its proper name shall be construed to include all waters forming part of that river, stream or brook and all waters tributary thereto.

• (6) The provisions of these Regulations respecting shellfish that apply to specified waters apply also to the foreshore of those specified waters.

• (7) In these Regulations, all geographical coordinates (latitude and longitude) are expressed in the North American Datum 1927 (NAD 27) geodetic reference system.

• (8) In these Regulations, the lines connecting points or coordinates are rhumb lines, unless stated otherwise.

Application

• 3 (1) These Regulations apply in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island and in Canadian fisheries waters adjacent to those provinces.

• (2) These Regulations do not apply in respect of

  • (a) [Repealed, SOR/93-335, s. 2]

  • (b) fishing for marine mammals;

  • (c) fishing carried out under the authority of a licence issued under the Atlantic Fishery Regulations, 1985;

  • (d) cultivated fish found in or taken from

    • (i) an aquaculture area or site operated under a lease or licence issued by the Minister or under the Fisheries and Coastal Resources Act of Nova Scotia or the Aquaculture Act of New Brunswick, or

    • (ii) a privately owned fish pond that does not contain any wild fish and to which wild fish have no access;

  • (e) national parks where the National Parks Fishing Regulations apply; or

  • (f) a foreign fishing vessel or a person fishing from a foreign fishing vessel, except where the vessel or person is engaged in recreational fishing.

• (3) Except for this section and sections 2, 4, 6, 18, 19, 22, 25 to 29, 34, 35, 39, 56, 58, and 68, 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.

PART IGeneral

Licences, Registration Cards and Certificates

• 4 (1) Subject to subsections (2) to (5), no person shall fish for or catch and retain any fish unless

  • (a) the person is

    • (i) authorized to do so under the authority of a licence issued under these Regulations, the Fishery (General) Regulations or the Aboriginal Communal Fishing Licences Regulations, or

    • (ii) accompanying a person referred to in subparagraph (i) and is fishing for

      • (A) eels with eel traps,

      • (B) gaspereau with gill nets, trap nets, square nets or weirs,

      • (C) shad with gill nets, square nets or trap nets,

      • (D) silversides with trap nets,

      • (E) smelt with bag nets, box nets or gill nets,

      • (F) sturgeon with gill nets, or

      • (G) tomcod with bag nets, box nets or gill nets;

  • (b) the person holds a fisher’s registration card or a provincial or territorial fisher’s certificate, as defined in section 2 of the Fishery (General) Regulations; and

  • (c) where a vessel is used in fishing, a vessel registration card has been issued in respect of that vessel.

• (2) A person may retain

  • (a) shad incidentally caught with gaspereau fishing gear operated under the authority of a licence;

  • (b) [Repealed, SOR/96-125, s. 1]

  • (c) tomcod incidentally caught with smelt fishing gear operated under the authority of a licence.

• (3) Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of

  • (a) recreational fishing by angling or with set lines;

  • (b) recreational fishing for clams or mussels by hand or with hand-held tools;

  • (c) recreational fishing for eels, smelt or tomcod with spears in tidal waters;

  • (d) recreational fishing for smelt with dip nets;

  • (e) recreational fishing for gaspereau with dip nets in waters other than

    • (i) the inland and tidal waters of Prince Edward Island, and

    • (ii) the inland waters of the Miramichi River and the Saint John River;

  • (f) fishing for oysters in a leased oyster area; or

  • (g) fishing for minnows with minnow traps or dip nets.

• (4) Paragraphs (1)(b) and (c) do not apply in respect of fishing under the authority of a recreational fishing licence or a licence issued under the Aboriginal Communal Fishing Licences Regulations.

• (5) Paragraph (1)(c) does not apply in respect of fishing for oysters in a public oyster-fishing area in the inland or tidal waters of Prince Edward Island or Nova Scotia.