Language selection

Search

Commercial fisheries licensing rules and policies reference document Pacific region

Salmon

Gillnet (categories AG, FAG and NAG)

Seine (categories AS and FAS)

Troll (categories AT and FAT)

Licence category

A commercial or communal commercial Salmon licence (any category A, FA or NAG) is required to commercially harvest Salmon. Category A licence eligibilities are limited entry and vessel based.

The licence eligibilities for category FA and NAG are party based and must be annually designated to a registered Canadian commercial fishing vessel that meets established length restrictions. Vessels are required to have a survey either on file with the Pacific Fishery Licence Unit or the survey must be submitted with the vessel designation. Vessels must be surveyed according to DFO guidelines category FA licences are held by Aboriginal groups. Category NAG licence eligibilities are held by the Northern Native Fishing Corporation.

Vessels authorized to fish under the authority of a Salmon licence are also permitted to:

Licence category background

Salmon has been a limited entry vessel based fishery since 1969.

Salmon Category A licenses were issued for fishing vessels which had a recorded catch of 10,000 lbs. or more of pink or chum Salmon, or equivalent, during 1967 or 1968.

The introduction of entry controls in the Salmon fishery in 1969 marked the beginning of licence limitation in Pacific fisheries in Canada. Salmon (A) licenses were issued for fishing vessels which had a recorded catch of 10,000 lbs. or more of pink or chum Salmon, or equivalent during 1967 or 1968. A total of 5870 Salmon (A) licenses were issued in 1969.

The fee for a Salmon (A) licence in 1969 was $10.00. Effective for the 1970 Salmon season, the licence fee was raised from $10 to $100 for Salmon (A) vessels less than 15 net tons in capacity. Vessels larger than this were charged $200 in annual fees in a rough attempt to make fee proportional to fishing capacity. The stated purpose of the fee increase was to fund a buy back program for the Salmon fleet. Effective for the 1971 season, these fees were doubled to $200 and $400 respectively; at the same time, another fee category was introduced; vessels under 30 ft. continued to pay a $100 annual fee. In 1981, Salmon licence fees in each of the three categories were increased again to $200, $400 and $800 respectively. The most recent increase in fees occurred in 1987, when licence fees were increased to $400, $800 and $1,600 respectively.

Between 1969 and 1977, there was no restriction on the type of gear (gillnet, seine or troll) which could be used on a Salmon licensed vessel. In 1977, a moratorium on the number of vessels allowed Vessel based Licence 58 to fish with seine gear was implemented. In 1982, Salmon vessels with a seine licence privilege were issued distinct Salmon validation tabs. Those Salmon vessels with a seine licence privilege were entitled to fish for Salmon with any gear. Those vessels without a seine licence privilege could use either gillnet or troll gear or both.

Aboriginal individuals may elect to pay a lower annual fee for a Salmon (A) licence, however, where this election has been made, the lower fee applies in all years thereafter and the vessel may only be sold to an Aboriginal individual. If a vessel has been issued a Salmon (A) licence, to which this restriction applies and is sold to a non-aboriginal individual, the licence eligibility ceases. This election and restriction in the Salmon (A) licence also applies to the Northern Native Fishing Corporation (NNFC), an aboriginal owned and operated company licence and section 19 – Registrations and Licenses of the Pacific Fishery Regulations, 1993.

The Salmon (B) licence initiated in 1969 with entry limitation and was issued to vessels that had a recorded catch during 1967 or 1968 of less than 10,000 lbs. of pink or chum Salmon, or equivalent. It was argued that these vessels traditionally participated in the Salmon fishery only during peak runs and that their exclusion from the fishery would detrimentally affect the vessel owner’s long term income and vessel values. There were 1062 Salmon (B) licenses issued originally.

In 1970, a phase-out period for these Salmon (B) licenses was announced; they would be issued annually only up to 10 years. The licence fee remained at $10. In 1978, when most of the Salmon (B) licenses were set to expire, the Minister extended them for an additional five years; a total of 103 licenses, which were still held by the original Salmon (B) vessel owners. The licence fee was doubled in 1981 to $20.00. At present, there are no Salmon (B) licenses still be issued by the Minister.

In 1982, B.C. Packers Ltd. sold 243 vessels and 254 licenses (most of its northern gillnet fleet) to the Northern Native Fishing Corporation (NNFC). The concept behind NNFC is that the corporation retains the licence privilege even though they may sell the vessels to individual Native fishers. In order to facilitate the corporation’s operation, the Minister created a Salmon (category N) licence. Salmon (N) licenses are personal licenses held by the NNFC.

Salmon (N) licenses are issued only to the Northern Native Fishing Corporation for vessels designated by the corporation. They were introduced in 1983 upon the relinquishment and retirement of a Salmon (A) licence by the NNFC for each Salmon (N) licence issued. At present, these licenses are now referred to as category NAG licenses as all 254 of these licenses are in the Salmon gillnet fleet.

In 1996, under the Pacific Salmon Revitalisation Plan, area and gear selection were introduced and Salmon licensed vessel owners were required to select a gear and an area for each licence eligibility. Gear selections were seine, gillnet or troll. Gear selection was permanent. Area selections were: Areas A or B for seine; Areas C, D or E for gillnet; and Areas F, G or H for troll. In addition, a vessel was only able to hold one licence eligibility per area.

Area licensing has been a feature of Salmon management for the past 10 years with area selections processes in 1996, 2000, 2006 and 2007. The initial area selection was for a four-year period. Licence stacking was also introduced in 1996 to help decrease the number of vessels actively participating in the fishery, while allowing vessel owners to fish in more than one area or with more than one gear.

Fishing areas

Seine

Gillnet

Troll

Licence renewal fees

Annual commercial Salmon licence (categories AG, AS and AT) renewal fees are available at full and reduced fee rates. Annual renewal fees are based on the length of the vessel.

Reduced fee licence eligibilities must be held on vessels owned by Aboriginal individuals who have status under the Indian Act and who elect to pay a reduced fee for a Salmon licence eligibility.

Commercial Salmon category NAG licence renewal fees are available at reduced fee rates. The renewal fees are based on the maximum vessel length (MVL) related to the category NAG licence eligibility.

Vessels under 9.14 meters (m) Vessels 9.14 m and over Seine vessels
Full fee $430.00 $710.00 $3,880.00
Reduced fee $380.00 $650.00 $2,670.00

There is no annual renewal fee for a communal commercial (category FAS, FAG or FAT) licenses.

Licence Issuance

A commercial Salmon licence must be renewed, and the renewal fee paid, every year by March 31st to retain the privilege to be issued the licence in the future. This means that vessel owners and category NAG licence eligibility holders must renew the licence whether they intend to fish or not. If the licence is not annually renewed by March 31st, the licence will cease and DFO will not be able to consider a request to issue that licence in the future.

Every year, category NAG and communal commercial category FA licence eligibility holders must also designate a fishing vessel to hold the licence. This may be done by submitting a request through the National Online Licensing System. Instructions are available.

Prior to licence issue, vessel owners and licence eligibility holder must ensure that:

Licence Documents

Salmon licence documents are valid from the date of issuance until March 31st of the next calendar year.

Vessel owners and licence eligibility holders may reprint any lost or destroyed licence documents using the National Online Licensing System (NOLS).

Vessel Replacement

The owner(s) of a category AG, AS or AT licenced commercial Salmon vessel may make application to replace the commercial fishing vessel. Both the replacement vessel and the vessel being replaced must have a survey on file with the Pacific Fishery Licence Unit (PFLU) or submitted with the vessel replacement application. Vessels must be surveyed according to Fisheries and Oceans Canada guidelines.

A commercial Salmon licence eligibility may not be split from other vessel based licence eligibilities. When no stacking is involved, replacement vessels for Salmon licence eligibilities must remain at the exact overall length or smaller than the existing vessel.

Where a vessel is eligible for a reduced fee Salmon licence, an Aboriginal individual must own the replacing vessel.

If a vessel is eligible for more than one licence category, all licence eligibilities must be placed on the replacement vessel, except where the Integrated Fisheries Management Plan (IFMP) for a species allows.

Licences eligible for a temporary vessel replacement (e.g., total loss of vessel) will not be permitted to be stacked.

Salmon category NAG and communal commercial category FA licence eligibilities are not eligible for vessel replacement.

Stacking

DFO processing of Salmon licence eligibility stacking applications ends on May 31st every year. Stacking applications are not accepted from June 1st to November 30th.

For the purpose of stacking licences, a single Salmon licence eligibility may be stacked to a vessel that is up to 30 per cent longer in overall length than the overall length of the vessel from which the licence eligibility is being removed.

Salmon licence eligibilities that are married to other licence categories (or another Salmon licence) may be stacked, but the additional 30 per cent in overall length is not applicable, and the Salmon stacking cannot result in the stacking of other licence categories, except where permitted for that licence category.

Different gear and area licence eligibilities may be combined on one vessel. That is, one vessel may have a Salmon gillnet licence eligibility and a Salmon troll licence eligibility. Multiple Salmon licence eligibilities of the same gear may be held on one vessel so long as each licence eligibility has a different area, as a vessel may not hold more than one Salmon licence eligibility for the same area.

An area change request may only be made when an application for licence stacking is submitted and the area change may only be made for the licence eligibility that is being stacked. The owner of the receiving vessel must make the request by completing the applicable section on the form.

Reduced fee licence eligibilities for categories AG, AS and AT may be stacked with either another reduced fee licence eligibility or a full fee licence eligibility, but the receiving vessel must be owned by an Aboriginal individual.

Category NAG licence eligibilities may be stacked with any category A licence eligibility (full or reduced fee), a communal commercial category FA, or another category NAG licence eligibility, in compliance with all stacking rules, except that they will not be tied to the other Salmon licence eligibility. Stacking a category NAG licence eligibility does not result in a change of licence area for the category NAG licence eligibility.

Category FA licence eligibilities may be stacked with any category A or category NAG licence eligibility or another category FA licence eligibility, in compliance with all stacking rules, except that they will not be tied to the other Salmon licence eligibility. Stacking deadline dates may vary for category FA licence eligibilities due to the sign off dates of communal or contribution agreements. Stacking a category FA licence eligibility does not result in a change of licence area for the category FA licence eligibility.

Stacking/Vessel Replacement Application Requirements

The Application to Replace a Commercial Vessel form is available.

The Application for Salmon Licence Eligibility Stacking may be obtained by submitting a request through the National Online Licensing System. Instructions are available.

Both of the vessels involved in the vessel replacement/stacking are required to have a survey either on file with the Pacific Fishery Licence Unit or the survey must be submitted with the vessel replacement application. Vessels must be surveyed according to DFO guidelines.

If the vessel being replaced, or from which the stacked Salmon licence eligibility originated, has been designated for limited entry category Z licence eligibilities, those licences must be redesignated to another suitable vessel.

If you require further discussion or information on the above mentioned vessel replacement policies, please contact the Pacific Fishery Licence Unit.

Logbooks

Logbooks may be obtained through Archipelago Marine Research by calling
250-383-4535
or toll-free 1-888-383-4535

Electronic Monitoring may be arranged through M.C. Wright & Associates Ltd. via telephone
250-753-1055
or email info@mcwrightonline.com.

Date modified: