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:
- adult licence holders
- senior licence holders
- annual licence holders
- term licence holders
- resident and non-resident licence holders
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:
- date(s) fished
- fishery management areas(s) fished
- method(s) of fishing used
- number of juvenile licence holders fishing with you (if any)
- days originated from a sport fishing lodge (if any)
- days fished with a paid fishing guide (if any)
- the number, by species, of finfish and shellfish kept and released
- length of any halibut you keep
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?
- Check your licence to find your access ID and the reporting period you have been assigned to report on
- Go to the iREC reporting program website before the 19th day of the following month
- 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 activity in tidal waters from thousands of participants, who each report on their fishing activity and catch for their assigned reporting period. All adult licence holders are selected each year to provide an iREC report, and the report should only reflect the fishing activity of the licence holder and that of any accompanying juvenile fishers.
Completing your report helps to sustainably manage our shared fishery resources. It is also a condition of your tidal waters recreational fishing license to provide your fishing information through this reporting program. Even if you didn't fish at all or did fish but didn’t catch anything, you are still required to complete your report.
Look at the middle of the first page of your licence for details on completing your report, including your access ID, reporting period and deadline.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada will also send emails reminding you to complete your report. The emails will include a direct access link to the online reporting program. It is important that your current email address is entered in your DFO licensing system account, so you will receive these reminders.
To complete your iREC report, please follow these step-by-step instructions.
To start your report, log-in using the information provided in the middle of your licence or the access link provided in one of your reminder emails. If you did not fish during your reporting period, please click the blue “I did not fish for finfish or shellfish recreationally…” button below. This option is only active when your reporting period is finished.
If you wish to return to the program and complete it at a later time, you may select the red “Close Current Session…” button.
If you fished during your reporting period, select the green “Continue to report fishing” button.
A calendar will appear. Please select the dates on which you went fishing. You may select multiple dates, or you can add additional dates later.
Note that your calendar will only show the month for which you have been selected to report, and will only allow you to report for dates in your reporting period.
Once selected, you cannot remove dates from this window, but if you wish to remove dates, you will find that option on the report dashboard.
Choose “Save”.
This will open your report dashboard. Here, the entries for each date you fished will be listed. You can add additional dates using the blue “Add Date” button.
Using the blue “Add an Area” button, record each area where you fished on a given date. If you know the name of the area where you fished, you can pick from a list, or you can use a map to choose an area. On the map, zoom in on the area you fished, select the area and click on the green button in the upper left corner to confirm and continue.
This returns you to the report dashboard. Enter all the areas you fished on each date. Use the white buttons to select all of the fishing methods you used on each date in each area.
Once a method is selected, a yellow button will appear that allows to you complete the record for this date/area/method combination. Click this button.
A new screen will open, where you can enter details about your fishing event. In this box, add the number of children with Juvenile fishing licences, for whom you are responsible and who fished with you – only one adult needs to report the catch for juvenile fishing licenses. You will be reporting their catch along with yours.
If you selected “Shellfish trapping from Boat”, please record which types of traps you checked.
If you select “Angling from Boat”, please record if your fishing day originated from a sport fishing lodge. Also, please record if you fished with a paid guide. This information is not requested for other fishing methods.
If you select 'Angling from Boat', 'Angling from Shore', or 'Dive-based or other', please record if you or the children fishing with you for whom you are responsible kept or released any salmon during each date-area-method event.
Then select the green “save and continue to the next page” button.
If you select “Yes” for the salmon question, a page will now open where you can record all information specific to the salmon you caught during the date-area-method combination shown at the top of the page. Please enter the number of salmon you kept and the number that you released for each species. You do not need to enter “0” for any species you did not catch. Select the green “Continue to Review and Confirm page” button to confirm.
The salmon form with the numbers you provided is now displayed again. Review your responses and select the green “I have reviewed my responses, continue” button to continue.
On the next page, please enter the number of other types of finfish or shellfish caught by you and the children fishing with you for whom you are responsible. Do not record fish caught by other adults in your group. Again, you do not need to enter “0” for any species you did not catch.
For information on species identification, please follow the links provided at the top of the page. Also, some species have information buttons which, when clicked, provide more information about the species. For example, the button for Codfish lists which species are included under this category.
Scroll down the list until you find the species you caught.
Please enter the number of fish you kept and the number that you released for each species.
When completed, please scroll down and select the green “Continue to Review and Confirm page” button.
The catch form with the numbers you provided is now displayed again. Please ensure your entries are correct. You may make corrections on this form. Once correct, please scroll down and select the green “I have reviewed my responses, continue” button.
For Halibut kept catch, additional information is requested. If you kept any halibut, you will be asked to provide the head-on length for each halibut. Please refer to the licence(s) on which these lengths were recorded. If you don't have the licence(s) available, then select “Length unknown”. Select the green ‘Save and Continue’ button.
For those who completed a record for 'Shellfish Trapping from Boat', a map will appear. Click on the map to drop a pin on the approximate centre of your trapping activity. Click the green box to confirm and continue. If you are unsure of where you fished within an area, then click to continue without making a selection. If you indicated that you checked both crab and Prawn/shrimp traps on a particular day and area, then you will be asked to provide the centre of your crab trapping activity and then the centre of your prawn trapping activity.
You will now return to Your Report Dashboard.
You can now complete records for any other fishing events.
You may also add further dates by selecting the blue “Add Date” button. You can also remove records made in error from this page by selecting the X, then 'Yes' to permanently delete the record. To view or edit responses, please select “View / Edit record”. You can view all of your records for each date/area/method combination and if necessary make corrections by selecting the appropriate blue “edit” button.
If you have no further dates or details to report at this time, please select the red “Close current session. I will return later to complete my report" button.
Once your reporting period is over, please return to the program before the deadline and add further records or confirm that all your fishing information has been provided for the month.
If you are completing your report after your reporting period is finished, and you have no further information to add, you may select the green “I have completely reported all of my fishing information for my reporting period” button. This option is not available until all the reports that have been started are completed.
A pop-up box will ask you to confirm that you have entered all fishing information for the reporting period. Click “Yes”.
This is the last screen where you can enter information. You can add polite comments about your fishing activity or the program here if you wish; they are not required. If you have questions or are experiencing difficulty completing your report, please email us using the link provided.
Once completed, please select the green “Complete report…” button.
Thank you for your cooperation. This information allows Fisheries and Oceans Canada to estimate recreational fishing effort and catch, which helps to ensure a vibrant, sustainable recreational fishery into the future.
For more information on the iREC reporting program, please visit https://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/report-declarez-eng.html
More information about reporting your catch through the online iREC 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:
- times and places fished
- number of fish kept and number released
- size of fish
- catches of hatchery-marked salmon
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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