Skip to content

DFO Notice on Mandatory Gear Marking

Home
Member Updates
DFO Notice on Mandatory Gear Marking
March 5, 2020

As a result of FFAW-Unifor’s Inshore Council pushing for delayed implementation of mandatory gear marking, DFO has released the following update:

UPDATE – EASTERN CANADA GEAR MARKING REQUIREMENTS FOR NON TENDED FIXED GEAR FISHERIES, CRAB TRAP FISHERIES AND LOBSTER TRAP FISHERIES

FISHERIES AND OCEANS CANADA

Mar. 5, 2020

This notice is being sent to update all licence holders who will be subject to mandatory gear (rope) marking requirements beginning in 2020

Many of you will have already received information about these gear marking requirements. Notices were sent on January 10 and 30 , 2020. Since these notices were sent, the department has been made aware that fish harvesters are experiencing difficulty purchasing some of the colored twine that will be required for marking their gear. Taking into account existing impediments, we considered many options, including an implementation schedule based on fisheries opening dates that would still see these requirements come into effect in 2020.

Harvesters are advised that previously communicated gear (rope) marking requirements will be mandatory for all non-tended fixed gear fisheries which open on or after July 1, 2020.

In the interim, harvesters are encouraged to adopt these requirements as soon as possible and to have all gear marked in accordance with the established colour scheme. Further details are outlined online at http://www.nfl.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/folios/00090/docs/gear-marking-eng.pdf

If you have any further questions, please contact Jackie Kean at (709)772-2045 or Jackie.kean@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Thank you for your patience and cooperation with the introduction of these new measures.

Latest News

YOUNG HARVESTERS COMMITTEE NOMINATIONS OPEN

UPDATE ON CRAB FINAL PAYOUT

FFAW-Unifor Expresses Deep Concern Over Baltic III Wreck as Vessel Further Deteriorates Off Cedar Cove

Loss of Cod from the Offshore Confirm Longstanding Harvester Concerns

FFAW Condemns Federal Budget's Short-Sighted Neglect of Fisheries Sector

News Categories

Dr. Erin Carruthers

Dr. Erin Carruthers is the Science Director and Senior Fisheries Scientist with the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union (FFAW-Unifor), which is the labour union that represents the owner-operator fleet in Newfoundland and Labrador. The FFAW is committed to research and management that supports healthy oceans, fisheries, and coastal communities. Dr. Carruthers received her Ph. D. in Biology from Memorial University in 2011 followed by a postdoctoral fellowship with the Centre for Fisheries Ecosystems Research. Before coming to Newfoundland, Erin worked as a Research Biologist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada at the St. Andrews Biological Station. Her current research program is co-constructed with fish harvesters and includes research on coastal fishing communities, collaborative longline and trap surveys, and best practices for the avoidance, handling and release of unwanted catch.