West coast commercial fisheries modernization: Engaging on commercial fisheries policy and licensing

We are considering potential policy changes that support commercial fisheries participants and reflect a made-in-B.C. approach responsive to the evolution of Canada’s west coast commercial fisheries.

We have heard concerns from First Nations and Indigenous organizations, fishery advisory bodies, independent harvesters, stakeholder groups, non-government organizations , and from testimony to the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans (FOPO) about challenges faced by commercial fisheries participants, and requests for changes.

That’s why we are engaging with First Nations, Indigenous organizations, and commercial fishery participants to discuss the concerns that have been raised about Pacific region commercial fisheries policy and licensing, and possible solutions.

Based on feedback from the engagements that have already taken place, in January 2026 the Minister of Fisheries set out 2 objectives to guide future work:

• support working harvesters to have more control over their fishing activities to keep a greater share of the benefits from their fishing effort
• modernize the licensing regime to support harvesters in pursuing their business objectives and adapting to change

We intend to work with fishery participants on how best to achieve these objectives.

What we’ve done

In 2024 we began engagement to gather views on modernizing west coast commercial fisheries, exploring several key topics:

• broader representation on fisheries advisory boards
• greater transparency of licence and quota holdings
• strengthened and more transparent socio-economic data
• foreign ownership and concentration of fisheries access
• modernizing licensing and management rules to better support economic sustainability (including topics related to accessibility, adaptability and resiliency, the sharing of risks and benefits and economic viability concerns of independent harvesters and small-scale operations)

We have advanced work on these topics. For example we have:

• begun processes to update membership on numerous fishery advisory boards to better reflect the range of fishery participants and to set out a code of conduct to support discussions including a diversity of interests and views
• provided a web-based portal to facilitate access to publicly available licence and quota information
• published a series of interactive dashboards with commercial and recreational socio-economic data, and developed surveys, such as a Cost and Earnings Survey, to better understand coastal community reliance on fisheries, as well as working on additional surveys to support analysis of potential policy changes
• conducted a comparative analysis of fisheries policies and regulations on the east and west coasts, and implementation considerations in these different contexts
• conducted a Beneficial Ownership Survey to better understand the beneficial ownership of fishing licences in Canada. The results were published in September 2023. Work is ongoing to further explore issues around leasing and concentration of access
• engaged on the above-noted topics in a phased approach with First Nations, Indigenous organizations, fishery participants and stakeholders. Phase 1 comprised approximately 75 bilateral style meetings between July and December 2024, including 2 Parliamentary Secretary-led roundtables and one Minister-led roundtable. Phase 2 consisted of 6 workshops delivered in February 2025: 4 in-person in Nanaimo, Prince Rupert, Campbell River and Richmond; 2 virtual, 1 of which was First Nations only. A summary report from these engagements will be published here soon. Bilateral meetings with key groups have continued since then on request while we have worked on a next phase of engagement.

From these engagements, we heard a mix of views on options to move forward, but a strong emphasis on the need for fishery-specific engagement, and for evidence-based decision-making.

What’s happening now

We are planning to explore options for policy and licensing changes that could advance the objectives described above on a fishery-specific basis, starting with the commercial crab and prawn fisheries. We will meet with participants in these fisheries to discuss this work and inform decisions about potential changes.

How to participate

If you are a commercial fisheries participant and would like to learn more about how you can participate in engagement, or to share your comments, concerns, thoughts and ideas with us, please contact us at WCFM-MPCO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca.

Please check back to this page for updates on our progress and for information about your opportunity to be involved.

Related links

• Turning the tide: A new policy for Canada's Pacific fisheries - September, 1982
• A history of Pacific fisheries policy - May, 1993
• West coast fisheries: Sharing risks and benefit, Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans report - May, 2019
  • Government response to West Coast Fisheries: Sharing risks and benefits - June, 2020
• Foreign ownership and corporate concentration of licences and quota, Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans Report - December, 2023