Fishery General

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans would like to advise that virtual Outreach meetings will be held throughout the Region in the coming weeks.

The intent of these meetings is to provide inshore harvesters and other interested stakeholders an opportunity to discuss matters of concern with respect to the various inshore fisheries. The Department would also like to take the opportunity to discuss recent changes to various licensing processes and to seek input on the Vessel Length/Replacement policy. 

The proposed agenda is as follows: 

1.    Introduction. 

2.    Licencing requests, NOLS and service standards. 

3.    Vessel Length/Replacement Policy  

4.    Inshore Regulations.   

5.    Open Agenda. 

There will be additional meetings for Fish Harvesters in other NAFO areas and more information will be released in the near future.

Meeting: Participants from Labrador - February 22, 2022: 

7pm-9pm Atlantic time zone

7:30pm-9:30pm Newfoundland time zone

Join Zoom Meeting

or by dialing any of the Canadian numbers below and entering the meeting ID and passcode provided:

        +1 647 374 4685 Canada

        +1 647 558 0588 Canada

        +1 778 907 2071 Canada

        +1 204 272 7920 Canada

        +1 438 809 7799 Canada

        +1 587 328 1099 Canada

Meeting ID: 949 2028 2591        Passcode: 298374

"Notices to Fish Harvesters" for all commercial fisheries are now available online under the Fishery Notices link on the DFO NL Region webpage at:  Newfoundland and Labrador Region

If you would like to have all "Notices to Fish Harvesters" for commercial fisheries sent directly to you by email please contact: beverly.piccott@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

DFO Inshore Fishery Outreach Meetings - Labrador

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans would like to advise that virtual Outreach meetings will be held throughout the Region in the coming weeks.

The intent of these meetings is to provide inshore harvesters and other interested stakeholders an opportunity to discuss matters of concern with respect to the various inshore fisheries. The Department would also like to take the opportunity to discuss recent changes to various licensing processes and to seek input on the Vessel Length/Replacement policy. 

The proposed agenda is as follows: 

1.    Introduction. 

2.    Licencing requests, NOLS and service standards. 

3.    Vessel Length/Replacement Policy  

4.    Inshore Regulations.   

5.    Open Agenda. 

There will be additional meetings for Fish Harvesters in other NAFO areas and more information will be released in the near future.

Participants from Labrador - February 22, 2022: 

7pm-9pm Atlantic time zone

7:30pm-9:30pm Newfoundland time zone

Join Zoom Meeting

or by dialing any of the Canadian numbers below and entering the meeting ID and passcode provided:

        +1 647 374 4685 Canada

        +1 647 558 0588 Canada

        +1 778 907 2071 Canada

        +1 204 272 7920 Canada

        +1 438 809 7799 Canada

        +1 587 328 1099 Canada

Meeting ID: 949 2028 2591        Passcode: 298374

"Notices to Fish Harvesters" for all commercial fisheries are now available online under the Fishery Notices link on the DFO NL Region webpage at:  Newfoundland and Labrador Region

If you would like to have all "Notices to Fish Harvesters" for commercial fisheries sent directly to you by email please contact: beverly.piccott@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans would like to advise that virtual Outreach meetings will be held throughout the Region in the coming weeks.

The intent of these meetings is to provide inshore harvesters and other interested stakeholders an opportunity to discuss matters of concern with respect to the various inshore fisheries. The Department would also like to take the opportunity to discuss recent changes to various licensing processes and to seek input on the vessel length/replacement policy. 

The proposed agenda is as follows: 
1.    Introduction 
2.    Licencing requests, NOLS and service standards 
3.    Vessel Length/Replacement Policy  
4.    Inshore Regulations   
5.    Open Agenda 

There will be additional meetings for Fish Harvesters in other NAFO areas and more information will be released in the near future.

Meeting: Participants from 4R3Pn

February 23, 2022: 7pm-9pm

Join Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 895 8422 6495

Passcode: 839496

OR

Dial by using any of the Canadian numbers below and entering the meeting ID and passcode provided:

        +1 438 809 7799 

        +1 587 328 1099

        +1 647 374 4685 

        +1 647 558 0588 

        +1 778 907 2071

        +1 204 272 7920

Meeting ID: 895 8422 6495

Passcode: 839496

This notice is for recipients of overpayment letters issued under the Fish Harvester Benefit and Grant (FHBG) Program that face repayment obligations.

The FHBG Program has decided to waive interest payments on overpayment amounts owing until January 1, 2023, on which date the calculation of interest will commence on unpaid overpayment amounts owing.

This waiver applies to overpayment letters issued during phase one and/or phase two of the Program.

In waiving interest payments in this way, the Program hopes to provide some flexibility to individuals who have repayment obligations, and might benefit from the additional time and opportunity to earn income from upcoming fisheries without facing interest charges.

If you received an overpayment letter, were successful in appealing the overpayment finding, and found not to have a net amount owing, then you have no repayment obligation.

If you are unsure of any repayment obligations, please contact Service Canada's call centre at: 1-833-674-8283, TTY: 1-800-465-7735.

Additional information can be found on the program's website (Fish Harvester Benefit and Grant Program)

DFO INSHORE FISHERY OUTREACH MEETINGS (NAFO DIVISON 3K) - White Bay, Notre Dame Bay

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans would like to advise that virtual Outreach meetings will be held throughout the Region in the coming weeks.

The intent of these meetings is to provide inshore harvesters and other interested stakeholders an opportunity to discuss matters of concern with respect to the various inshore fisheries. The Department would also like to take the opportunity to discuss recent changes to various licensing processes and to seek input on the vessel replacement policy. 

The proposed agenda is as follows: 

1.    Introduction. 

2.    Licencing requests, NOLS and service standards. 

3.    Vessel Replacement Policy  

4.    Inshore Regulations.   

5.    Open Agenda. 

There will be an Additional meeting for Fish Harvesters on the Great Northern Peninsula, and more information will be released in the near future.

Meeting 1: Participants from White Bay and Notre Dame Bay

February 21, 2022: 7pm-9pm

Join Zoom Meeting

OR

Dial by using any of the Canadian numbers below and entering the meeting ID and passcode provided:

        +1 647 558 0588 Canada

        +1 778 907 2071 Canada

        +1 204 272 7920 Canada

        +1 438 809 7799 Canada

        +1 587 328 1099 Canada

        +1 647 374 4685 Canada

Meeting ID: 839 4230 3516

Passcode: 183150 

"Notices to Fish Harvesters" for all commercial fisheries are now available online under the Fishery Notices link on the DFO NL Region webpage at: Newfoundland and Labrador Region

If you would like to have all "Notices to Fish Harvesters" for commercial fisheries sent directly to you by email please contact: beverly.piccott@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

The Beneficial Ownership Survey is now available for completion. It will remain open from January 31 to March 31, 2022.

The Survey is mandatory for all:

• Party-based licence holders in Pacific Region
• Contact vessel owners for vessels that hold vessel-based licences in Pacific Region
• Offshore, mid-shore, exempted fleet, and inshore Elver licence holders in Atlantic Canada, Quebec and Arctic Region

Communal-commercial licence holders issued under the Aboriginal Communal Fishing Licences Regulations (ACFLR) are exempt from the Survey, unless they also hold on the West coast a party-based licence or own vessels that have been issued vessel-based licences; or hold on the East coast a mid-shore, offshore or exempted fleet licence. Atlantic inshore licence holders subject to the inshore regulation (Atlantic Fishery Regulations, Part III) are also exempt from the Survey. 

The Survey will help DFO gather information about who is benefitting from having access to commercial fishing across Canada. The Beneficial Ownership Survey is mandatory and failure to provide required information through the Survey constitutes a prosecutable offence under section 78 of the Fisheries Act.

For detailed information about the Survey, including who needs to complete it, how to complete it, and the contact information that inquires can be forwarded to, please visit us at: Beneficial Ownership Survey.

The Survey will be available until March 31, 2022, we encourage you to complete it as soon as possible.

The following notice does not apply to inshore licence holders subject to the inshore regulations outlined in the Atlantic Fishery Regulations, Part III, nor does it apply to communal-commercial licence holders that do not hold any other classification of commercial licence.

Beginning January 31, 2022, a short online survey will be open for licence holders and vessel owners to complete to help Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) gather information about who is benefitting from having access to commercial fishing across Canada.

The Beneficial Ownership Survey is mandatory for all:

• party-based licence holders in Pacific Region
• contact vessel owners for vessels that have been issued vessel-based licences in Pacific Region
• offshore, mid-shore, exempted fleet, and inshore Elver licence holders in Atlantic Canada, Quebec and Arctic Region

In Pacific Region, if an individual or enterprise:

1. holds one or more party-based licences and
2. is a contact vessel owners for one or more vessels that have been issued a vessel-based licence, they must fill in both survey formats

Is the contact vessel owner for more than one vessel that has been issued a licence, they may need to fill out the vessel-based survey more than once is those vessels have different corporate structures.

Note that communal-commercial licence holders issued under the Aboriginal Communal Fishing Licences Regulations (ACFLR) are exempt from the Survey, unless they also hold on the West coast a party-based licence or own vessels that have been issued vessel-based licences or on the East coast a mid-shore, offshore or exempted fleet licence. Atlantic inshore licence holders subject to inshore regulation (Atlantic Fishery Regulations, Part III)  are also exempt from the Survey.

The Survey will be quite simple for most licence holders and contact vessel owners to complete because they will only have a few questions to answer. Larger, multi-tiered corporations may need more time to collect the information required to complete the section designed for complex organizations.

More information about the Survey, as well as visual fact sheets to show individuals how to complete it, may be found on our website at Beneficial Ownership Survey.  A link to the Survey itself will be published on the website at launch.

While the Survey will be available until March 31, 2022, we encourage you to complete it as soon as possible. You should also be aware that failure to provide required information through the Survey constitutes a prosecutable offence under section 78 of the Fisheries Act.