OTTAWA, ON, Dec. 9, 2020 /CNW/ - The inshore fisheries on Canada's East Coast are often family run businesses that drive the local, regional, and national economies. They are the pride of their communities and it is imperative that we support their continued growth and stability, now and into the future.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada published amended regulations, taking further action to preserve and protect the independence of licence holders in commercial inshore fisheries in Atlantic Canada and Quebec, and ensuring that the economic benefits from fishing stay with harvesters and within their communities.
Under the authorities granted by the modernized Fisheries Act, which received royal assent on June 21, 2019, Fisheries and Oceans Canada has amended the Atlantic Fishery Regulations, 1985 and the Maritime Provinces Fishery Regulations to clarify the rules governing inshore licences and create new enforceable requirements.
The regulatory amendments announced address a longstanding request from independent fish harvesters to formalize a variety of policies that had been developed over the years to govern inshore licences. This includes:
ensuring the licence holder retains the benefits generated by fishing, and is the one fishing under that licence;
supporting the Fleet Separation Policy by prohibiting certain types of corporations from holding licences in the inshore sector; and
an eligibility criteria that will prevent the Minister from issuing inshore licences to Independent Core licence holders that have transferred the use or control of the rights and privileges conferred by the licence to fish to a third party.
The publication of these regulations in the Canada Gazette, Part II, is a clear commitment of support from the Government of Canada to independent fish harvesters in Atlantic Canada and Quebec, and the communities they represent.