Notices to Fish Harvesters
IMPLEMENTATION OF A RESIDENCY CRITERIA FOR COMMERCIAL LICENCES WHERE THE LICENCE HOLDER IS A RESIDENT OF THE NORTH SHORE AREA
Québec – January 23 2024
Since 2021, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has been analyzing, in collaboration with industry, the relevance of implementing a residency criteria for one or more marine sectors or specific fleets.
As a reminder, in order to allow the Liaison Sub-Committee to conduct its work and DFO to carry out its analysis and consultations, DFO decided, on February 23, 2021, to put in place a freeze on licence reassignments between fishermen from different maritime areas for an indefinite period.
Subsequently, the subject has been discussed during several meetings of the Liaison subcommittee and Liaison committee in 2021 and 2022. On March 17, 2022, DFO announced the partial lifting of the intersectoral freeze between the Gaspesie – Lower St. Lawrence and Magdalen Islands maritime sectors, as well as the removal of residency criteria from the Regional Directive programs applying to these two areas.
Work has continued within the Liaison subcommittee during 2023. DFO held a final round of consultations with Liaison Committee members from November 6 to 21, 2023.
Thus, to ensure that the geographic distribution of economic opportunities is maintained, DFO has decided to formally implement a residency criteria for all commercial licences where the licence holder is a resident of the North Shore area, excluding licences issued under the Aboriginal Communal Fishing Licences Regulations. This means that, for a licence reassignment to be authorized, if the licence holder (applicant) is a resident of the North Shore area, the proposed licence holder (recipient) must also be a resident of this area.
Here is an explanatory table:
Table 1. Summary of commercial license reassignments between fishers from different maritime sectors (authorized (√) and unauthorized (X))
| Applicant's area of residence (current licence holder) | Recipient's area of residence (proposed license holder) | |
|---|---|---|
| Gaspesie – Lower St. Lawrence | √ | Magdalen Islands |
| Gaspesie – Lower St. Lawrence | √ | North Shore |
| Gaspesie – Lower St. Lawrence | √ | Gaspesie – Lower St. Lawrence |
| Magdalen Islands | √ | Gaspesie – Lower St. Lawrence |
| Magdalen Islands | √ | North Shore |
| Magdalen Islands | √ | Magdalen Islands |
| North Shore | X | Magdalen Islands |
| North Shore | X | Gaspesie – Lower St. Lawrence |
| North Shore | √ | North Shore |
This also means that if a licence whose holder is not a resident of the Côte-Nord area is transferred to a Côte-Nord resident, the residency criteria becomes applicable to this licence when it is reassigned in the future.
If you have any questions, please contact your DFO area office.
For additional information
Magdalen Islands area: 418-986-2095
North Shore area: 1-800-463-1729
Gaspesie – Lower St. Lawrence area: 1-877-898-5559