Commercial fisheries licensing rules and policies reference document Pacific region

Groundfish trawl

Categories T and FT

Licence category

A commercial or communal commercial Groundfish Trawl licence (category T or FT) is required to commercially harvest Groundfish species using trawl gear. Category T licence eligibilities are limited entry and vessel based. Category FT licence eligibilities are party based and must be designated to a registered Canadian commercial fishing vessel that meets established length restrictions. Category FT licences are held by a First Nation.

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

• fish for Schedule II Species according to the conditions of each licence, except when fishing privileges have been relinquished;
• transport fish caught by other vessels; and
• be designated to fish under the authority of a category Z licence.

Licence category background

A number of events preceded limitation in the Groundfish Trawl fishery. The trawl fleet expanded in capacity between 1972 and 1974 partly as a result of government shipbuilding subsidies. The number of vessels increased from 44 to 66 and nine of these exceeded 80 feet in length.

Groundfish markets collapsed in 1974, which precipitated a series of subsidies, deficiency payments to vessel owners, and conditional grants to processors. To ensure that vessels which were most affected by the market collapse received financial assistance, DFO announced that deficiency payments would apply only to trawlers which had recorded 1973 or 1974 Groundfish landings.

Limited entry was introduced to the Groundfish Trawl fishery in January 1977, and 237 licence eligibilities were established. Eligibilities were established for vessels or replacement vessels that had a recorded commercial catch of Groundfish by trawl gear in 1973, 1974 or up to April 30, 1975. Eligibilities were also granted in appeal cases where landing criteria were not met but major expenditures directly associated with Groundfish Trawling had been incurred.

Quota and management measures to control the harvest of Pacific Groundfish stocks were implemented in 1979. Management measures included: the establishment of total allowable catch, species/area/time closures, and vessel trip limits. Since 1980, DFO has also consulted with industry through the Groundfish Trawl Advisory Committee to develop annual management plans and to plan and implement an individual transferable quota (IVQ) system in 1997. The resulting IVQ fishery had quotas that could be fully reallocated for 29 different species in 56 different management areas. No area or quota restrictions applied; however, trip limits could apply to certain species covered under this licence.

In April 2006, a three-year pilot integrated management plan was introduced. The objective of the pilot plan was to improve stock management through by-catch monitoring, reduced discarding, and requiring fish harvesters to be accountable for all catch. This was supported by new monitoring standards (100 per cent at-sea and dockside monitoring), individual vessel quotas (IVQs) in lingcod and dogfish, individual quotas in Rockfish fisheries (in addition to the rest of the Groundfish fisheries managed under IVQs), and a temporary quota reallocation process to address by-catch that is available between the various commercial Groundfish sectors.

Amended Groundfish Trawl vessel replacement rules were announced in Fishery Notice FN0640 on August 29, 2008. The two main changes were: the maximum vessel length was extended to original vessel length plus 50 per cent; and Groundfish Trawl eligibilities placed onto a vessel without an existing vessel based licence would have the Schedule II Species portion of the licence conditions relinquished (permanently retired).

Licence option selection

Prior to licence issuance, each Groundfish Trawl vessel owner/licence eligibility holder may choose to fish under the conditions of one of two options (A or B) for the current fishing year. By default, DFO sets the trawl licence option to the option issued as of the end of the previous season.

Option selection for each Groundfish Trawl licence may be done by navigating to the ‘Submit a Request’ menu selection within the National Online Licensing System (NOLS). Full instructions are available.

A general description of the permitted activities under each option are:

Option A

• Permitted to fish with bottom trawl gear in all areas, except management Area 4B (Fisheries Management Areas 12 to 20 and 29) open to bottom trawling.
• Permitted to fish by mid-water trawl coast-wide.
• Subject to one hundred (100) percent dockside monitoring for all landings.
• Subject to one hundred (100) percent at sea observer coverage when fishing with bottom or mid-water gear except when mid-water trawling for hake and delivering all fish caught as fresh round product to land.
• Subject to one hundred (100) percent at sea monitoring coverage when fishing when mid-water trawling for hake.
• Permitted to fish throughout the year for Groundfish species subject to TAC up to the amount of the IVQ specified on the licence.
• Permitted to reallocate IVQ holdings subject to the rules governing such reallocations.
• Limited to 15,000 pound per trip for all combined rockfish species not subject to TAC.
• Permitted to retain incidentally caught mackerel equal to six (6) percent of the offshore pacific hake IVQ portion of quota holdings.
• No trip limit for Groundfish species (excluding rockfish) not subject to a TAC.
• Not permitted to fish for and retain eulachon, wolf-eels, any Salmon species, Pacific herring, Green sturgeon, White sturgeon, Pacific Basking shark, Tope (Soupfin) shark or Bluntnose Sixgill shark.
• Halibut is not permitted to be retained. By-catch mortality caps for Halibut will be issued an individual vessel basis. Licence holders will be responsible and accountable for all Halibut mortality incurred.
• Corals and Sponges are not permitted to be retained unless specifically authorized by Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
• A fleet wide habitat bycatch conservation limit (HBCL) for Corals and Sponges has been set and allocated as IVQ to individual Groundfish Trawl vessels. The HBCL IVQ is transferable among Groundfish Trawl licence holders within annual caps. Groundfish Trawl licence holders will be responsible and accountable for all coral and sponge mortality incurred.

Option B

• Required to request monthly amendments to groundfish Trawl licence prior to fishing.
• Permitted to fish by bottom trawl in Area 4B (Areas 12 to 20 and 29) only.
• Not permitted to fish by mid-water trawl in any Area.
• Limited to a maximum of 15 landings per calendar month.
• Subject to one hundred (100) percent dockside monitoring for all landings.
• Subject to mandatory at-sea monitoring of all fishing activities.
• A 15,000 pound calendar month limit for all groundfish species combined other than dogfish, lingcod and Rockfish; of which no more than 200 pounds shall be Sablefish, and of which no more than 200 pounds shall be Petrale sole, and of which no more than 500 pounds shall be Pacific Cod.
• Not permitted to fish for and retain eulachon, halibut, lingcod, any rockfish, squid, octopus, wolf-eels any salmon species, Pacific herring, Green sturgeon, White sturgeon, Pacific Basking shark, Tope (Soupfin) Shark or Bluntnose Sixgill Shark,
• No limit on the quantity of dogfish.

Licence renewal fee

The annual renewal fee for a commercial category T licence is calculated as follows:

• base licence fee of $500.00 plus the permanent individual vessel quota holdings of the licence on February 20th of the next calendar year measured in pounds.

There is no annual renewal fee for a communal commercial category FT licence

Licence Issuance

A commercial Groundfish Trawl licence must be renewed, and the renewal fee paid, every year by February 20th to retain the privilege to be issued the licence in the future. This means that vessel owners must renew the licence whether they intend to fish or not. If the licence is not renewed by February 20th, the licence will cease and DFO will not be able to consider a request to issue that licence in the future.

Every year, communal commercial Groundfish Trawl licence eligibility holders must also designate a fishing vessel to hold the licence by submitting a request through the National Online Licensing System (NOLS). Instructions are available.

Prior to licence issue, vessel owners or licence eligibility holders must ensure that:

• they have chosen one of two fishing options for the fishing season: option A (Outside) or option B (Inside) by submitting a request through the National Online Licensing System.
• any ministerial conditions placed on the licence eligibility have been met; and
• any conditions of the previous year’s licence have been met.
• the designated vessel's overall length does not exceed the maximum vessel length of the category FT licence eligibility.

Note that Groundfish Trawl vessel owners or licence eligibility holders who choose option B are permitted to make a change once each year to option A. Those who choose option A may not change their selection for the remainder of the fishing year.

Licence amendments

Before beginning to harvest under the authority of a Groundfish Trawl licence, a Request for a Licence Amendment form must be completed and submitted to the Groundfish Management Unit by fax at 604-666-8525.

• Option A vessels must be in possession of a valid amendment to the vessels Groundfish Trawl licence prior to fishing. Contact the Quota Officer at 604-666-0010 for further information.
• Option B vessels will be issued monthly amendments. The owner of an Option B vessel must submit A Request for Licence Amendment form for each month and be in possession of a valid amendment prior to fishing. Contact the Quota Officer at 604-666-0010 for further information.

Quota allocations

Prior to quota reallocations, the current year’s licence must be issued and a reallocation request form, signed by all vessel owners of record for the vessel the IVQ is being reallocated from, must be submitted by fax to the Groundfish Management Unit at 604-666-8525.

All questions regarding IVQs and reallocation of IVQs or Total Allowable Catch must be referred to the Quota Officer at 604-666-0010.

Licence documents

Groundfish Trawl licence documents are valid from the date of issue to February 20th of the next calendar year.

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

Vessel replacement

The owner(s) of a category T licensed vessel may apply 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 or the survey must be submitted with the vessel replacement application. Vessels must be surveyed according to DFO guidelines.

Vessel owner(s) should also note the following rules:

• A Groundfish Trawl licence eligibility may be placed either permanently or temporarily on any registered Canadian commercial fishing vessel which does not exceed the maximum vessel length (MVL), which is the overall length of the vessel that held the licence eligibility as of December 1, 1998 plus 50 per cent. This is subject to DFO policies governing the placement of other vessel based licence eligibilities also held on the vessel being replaced.
• When a single Groundfish Trawl licence eligibility is placed on a shorter vessel, there remains a future opportunity to place the licence eligibility on a registered Canadian commercial vessel which does not exceed the MVL.
• A Groundfish Trawl licence eligibility may be separated from other licence eligibilities and placed on a registered Canadian commercial fishing vessel that does not exceed the MVL. When the receiving vessel does not already hold a vessel based licence eligibility, the Schedule II Species privileges associated with the Groundfish Trawl licence eligibility must be relinquished (permanently retired).
• Groundfish Trawl licensed vessel owners may swap Groundfish Trawl licence eligibilities within the Groundfish Trawl fleet, subject to the length restrictions outlined above. When swapping occurs, the IVQ and holdings caps follow each licence eligibility.
• Vessels involved in the swapping of Groundfish Trawl licence eligibilities may hold and fish under the authority of the swapped Groundfish Trawl licence eligibilities in the same fishing year, except when a vessel had begun fishing under the authority of the Groundfish Trawl licence, that vessel may not fish under the authority of another Groundfish Trawl licence in the same fishing year.

Communal commercial licences are not eligible for vessel replacement.

The Application to Replace a Commercial Vessel form is available.

Temporary vessel replacement

Temporary vessel replacements are allowed if the vessel has been declared a loss or the vessel is out of service due to an accident or unforeseen damage. Vessels that are in disrepair at the time of purchase, have engine problems, or have encountered delays in annual maintenance or rebuilding do not qualify for a temporary replacement.

Written confirmation from an insurance company, shipyard, or marine engineer explaining why the vessel is inoperative must be submitted to a Pacific Fishery Licence Unit when declaring the vessel a total loss.

Temporary replacement vessel may not exceed the overall vessel length plus 10 per cent of the Groundfish Trawl vessel.

Should the Groundfish Trawl licence eligibility be temporarily split from other licence eligibilities, the remaining eligibilities may not be placed on a third vessel.

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

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