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Report your effort and catch

As a B.C. tidal waters sport fishing licence holder, you belong to an accountable community that shares responsibility for B.C.’s sustainable recreational fishery. Your fishing information, combined with the reports of thousands of other recreational fishers, helps meet mandatory, domestic and international requirements to monitor the recreational fishery. When you report your effort and catch, you are helping to manage and protect the future health and vibrancy of Canada's natural resources.

How it works

We collect data both in-person and online to help monitor the impacts of the recreational fishery on Pacific fish and shellfish stocks. Participation in our recreational monitoring program is mandatory, and is a condition of your B.C. tidal waters sport fishing licence.

In addition to our mandatory reporting programs, many fishing guides, lodges and independent anglers keep logbooks and collect samples to help with the shared task of monitoring catches.

Internet Recreational Effort and Catch reporting program

The Internet Recreational Effort and Catch (iREC) reporting program is a mandatory reporting program in which all B.C. tidal water sport fishing licence holders must report their fishing effort and catch for an assigned reporting period. Information gathered in this program helps inform fisheries management decisions that support the sustainable use of our resources.

Who must fill out the iREC reporting program

Almost everyone holding a tidal waters sport fishing licence must report their fishing effort and catch for an assigned reporting period through the online iREC reporting program. This includes:

Generally, only juvenile licence holders under the age of 16 do not participate in this program.

If you purchased more than 1 licence in the season, such as 2 one-day licences, you will be required to report your effort and catch for each fishing licence purchased.

When do I have to report my catch

Licence holders will be selected to report for only 1 of the months for which their licence is valid.

You need to report your fishing effort and catch for the reporting period printed on your licence in the iREC reporting requirement box before the 19th day of the following month. We will send reminder emails to the email address we have on file for you, so please make sure that your contact information in the National Recreational Licensing System is current.

You can record information periodically (preferred if several fishing trips occur in the reporting period), or complete the report in a single visit to the website after the reporting period ends. If you don’t fish during the reporting period you must indicate this on the report.

What do I report

You must provide information about your fishing activity during your reporting period including:

You must complete the iREC report even if you do not fish in your reporting period, or if you fish but do not catch and/or retain anything.

You must immediately and permanently record all retained halibut, chinook salmon and/or lingcod on your paper licence, your NRLS catch log or the FishingBC app catch log.

This is different than reporting your effort and catch through the iREC program. If you caught these species in the month in which you are asked to submit your iREC report, you must both record it as above and report it through the online iREC reporting program.

Download a printable Track your fishing form now to make it easy for you when it comes time to fill in your report.

Privacy notice

In addition to the personal information collected when you purchased your tidal waters sport fishing licence, DFO requires additional information to determine recreational effort and catch statistics. This information will be collected via the Internet Recreational Effort and Catch (iREC) reporting program which is administered by an independent consulting company on DFO’s behalf. The consulting company will be provided with your name, iREC access ID and email address in order to conduct the program.

The information that you provide may be used to evaluate fish management and stock assessment programs. It may also be disclosed to DFO’s Conservation and Protection Program in the event of a suspected violation. In some cases, information may be disclosed without consent for purposes authorized under subsection 8(2) of the Privacy Act.

Personal information is collected pursuant to section 7 of the Fisheries Act, and section 17 of the British Columbia Sport Fishing Regulations, 1996. Not providing the information requested in the reporting program would be a violation of the conditions of your fishing licence.

You have the right to the correction of, access to and protection of your personal information under the Privacy Act. If you have concerns regarding the handling of your personal information, you have the right to file a complaint with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

Personal information collected through the reporting program is described in the Personal Information Banks entitled Nationally Regulated Recreational, Domestic, and Sport Fishing (DFO PPU 415). For more information visit Info Source.

How do I report my catch?

  1. Check your licence to find your access ID and the reporting period you have been assigned to report on
  2. Go to the iREC reporting program website before the 19th day of the following month
  3. Report your effort and kept and released catch of finfish and shellfish!

Watch the video below for step-by-step instructions on how to report your catch and effort through the online iREC reporting interface.

Transcript

Internet Recreational Effort and Catch (iREC) reporting program

Welcome to the Internet Recreational Effort and Catch reporting program. This program collects information on recreational fishing in tidal waters from thousands of participants. Your report helps Fisheries and Oceans Canada sustainably manage our shared fishery resources.

Reporting is a mandatory condition of your Tidal Waters Sport Fishing licence in British Columbia. Even if you didn’t fish, didn’t catch anything, or only harvested shellfish, you must still complete your report. Your iREC information is printed in a box centered on your fishing licence.

To complete your iREC report, please follow these steps. Visit irecreport.ca using any device with an internet connection. To access the French version, select Français. Enter your Access ID, which you’ll find in a box centered on the first page of your licence or in the emails we send you. Click “SUBMIT” to start your report. You can also access your report directly by clicking the link in your reminder email.

After logging in, you’ll see your reporting period and submission deadline. If you have an annual fishing licence, you only need to report for the period you have been assigned. Read the instructions on this page before continuing.

If you did not fish during your reporting period, select “I did not fish for finfish or shellfish recreationally”. You can only report this after your reporting period ends. If you fished during your reporting period, select “Continue” to report fishing. To pause and return later, select “Close Current Session”. Remember, reports can’t be submitted after the deadline. If you accidentally chose “Continue” instead of “I did not fish,” you will need to delete any existing records, close your report completely, and log in again to make the correct selection.

Welcome to your report dashboard. The top of the page displays the dates in your reporting period. Select a date to record your fishing activity by clicking, swiping, or using your keyboard arrows. The question mark icon gives quick help and answers common questions. Links to this video, the FAQs, and technical support appear at the bottom of the page.

Select a date when you went fishing. Next, select “Add an Area” to record where you fished. A map will appear. Zoom in to find your fishing location and select the area. To change the selected area, choose a different area on the map. When you’re done, click the green button at the top to confirm your area selection and return to the dashboard. Next, select the fishing methods you used on this date and in the area you selected. Each method appears as a blue button. Once selected a new green button labelled “Complete a Record” appears. If you selected a method by mistake, click the X to remove it. A status circle appears below each date you’ve started reporting.

When you select “Complete a Record”, you will be directed to a new page to enter details about your fishing trip. The top banner displays your record information, including the date, area, and fishing method. In this section, add the number of children with Juvenile Fishing Licences who fished with you. To ensure we do not double count the fishing effort and catch for these children only one adult should include them in their report.

Additional questions appear based on the selected fishing method. If you chose “Angling from Boat”, indicate whether your day started from a sport fishing lodge and if you fished with a paid guide. If you chose “Shellfish Trapping from Boat,” record the trap types you checked. Next, click “Save and Continue”.

This page lets you enter your catch numbers for the selected day, area, and fishing method shown at the top of the page.

First, review the information to help guide you through completing this page.

Then see the table that lists species that can be caught with selected method, along with two columns: Number Kept and Number Released. If you did not keep or release anything, you can leave the cells blank and submit the page at the bottom.

For Coho and Chinook salmon, mark status refers to the presence or absence of the adipose fin: Hatchery marked fish, also called adipose fin-clipped, have a healed scar where the adipose fin was removed. Wild salmon still have their adipose fin.

Scroll to find the species you caught. Enter the number kept and released for each species, including any catches by children fishing under your supervision. Do not record catches from other adults in your group. You don’t need to enter zeroes for species you didn’t catch. Also, do not enter the weight or length of the fish you kept in this table.

If a species is not listed, you can record it under “Other Fishes”, which appears at the end of the list. Use the question mark icon for help or links to species identification information. Some species also have additional information buttons. Click the “i” button to view those.

When you’re finished entering your catch, scroll down and click the green “Review and Confirm” button. A summary of your record appears. Review the details. Click Edit to make changes if needed, then select “Save and Continue” if all information is correct.

If you kept halibut, enter the head-on length in centimeters for each fish using the measurements recorded on your licence. If the licence isn’t available and you can’t remember the length of the halibut you kept, select “Length unknown”, then “Save and Continue”.

If you reported Shellfish Trapping from Boat, a map appears for the area you identified activity on this date. Drop a pin at the approximate centre of your trapping location and confirm. If you’re unsure, continue without selecting a location.

If you select both crab and prawn/shrimp traps, first choose and confirm the crab trap location. Once confirmed, you’ll be able to select the prawn/shrimp trap location. Then select “Confirm and Continue” using the green button at the top.

After completing a record, you’ll return to the dashboard. A green solid circle appears below each date when you enter all required information, and a red half outlined circle appears if the record is incomplete.

Click “View Summary” to see details for that day or “View All Days” to review your entire report at any time. From the summary view, you can select any entry to edit. You can also edit records directly from the dashboard by selecting “View / Edit Record” next to each record.

To delete a record, select the red X and confirm; this permanently removes the record.

To delete the area, click the X to remove the methods you reported. After that, you’ll see the option to erase the area. When you delete all methods and areas from a date, the status circle will disappear for that date.

You can add more fishing dates by selecting additional dates at the top of the page.

Enter the details for each day you fished and include the methods you used. Previously selected areas appear next to “Add an Area” as a quick selection option.

If you don’t have more dates or details to report at the moment, click the button that says “Close current session. I will return later to complete my report.” Selecting this option does not submit your report.

When your reporting period has ended and before the deadline, select the button “I have completely reported all of my fishing information for my reporting period”.

This button will only appear once all in progress reporting items have been addressed and all circles under your selected fishing dates are green solid circles.

A summary will appear asking you to confirm that all your fishing information has been entered. Review the summary. If needed, edit individual records using the blue Edit buttons to the right of each record, or select the blue Edit Report Entries button at the bottom left to return to the dashboard. When you are ready, select “Yes, Submit Final Report”.

On the final screen, you can add optional comments or feedback regarding any additional information you wanted to provide about your report. If you have questions or technical issues, contact us using the email link provided. Select “Complete Report” to finish.

Thank you for your participation. The information you provide helps Fisheries and Oceans Canada estimate recreational fishing effort and catch, supporting vibrant and sustainable fisheries for the future.

Frequently asked questions about the Internet Recreational Effort and Catch (iREC) reporting program

In-person reporting

Our fishery technicians conduct creel surveys, or in-person interviews, about recreational fishing effort and catch at marinas, boat ramps and on rivers. If you're selected to participate in a creel survey, the technicians will ask you details about your fishing trip, including:

They may also ask to collect biological samples from your catch, like tissue for DNA stock identification analysis or scales for age analysis.

Even if you participate in a creel survey in the month that you're selected to report your catch and effort through the online iREC reporting program, you still need to complete the online report for that month. We will manage the results of both reporting programs.

Contact us

Email: DFO.SportFishingReport-RapportPecheSportive.MPO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

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