Fishery Notice

DFO has recently added new shellfish aquaculture conditions of licence pertaining to gear and equipment identification. These new conditions, outlined in Section 11 and Appendix VII of the licence, specify the equipment that must be identified and the acceptable manners of identification. All applicable shellfish aquaculture gear and equipment must be labelled appropriately by April 1, 2023. 

DFO will require the majority of gear to be imprinted or permanently marked in a durable manner by (branding, etching or permanently printing). Gear that cannot be imprinted or otherwise permanently marked, such as predator exclusion netting, will be permitted to be tagged with DFO-approved fishery tags. 

You are encouraged to plan well in advance, and begin labelling gear now to ensure full compliance when the new conditions come into force. This may include allowing time to order, manufacture, and receive new pre-branded gear, custom plastic branding irons, or fishery tags. Information on DFO-approved tag suppliers and manufacturers, as well as identification requirements are detailed below. 


As of October 25, 2021, the two DFO approved gear manufacturers in Canada are:

UNIVERSEAL PRODUCTION CANADA INC.
2045 Boul. Dagenais West #130
H7L 5V1 Laval, Quebec, Canada
1- 855 220 7872 // 450 622 7872
Vice President Sales: Steve Boston steve@universeal.net  
https://www.universeal.net/   


INDUSTRIES ÉMILE LACHANCE LTÉE
424, route 279
Saint-Damien (Québec)
Canada G0R 2Y0
Phone: (418) 789-2585
Fax: (418) 789-2209
Toll Free
Phone: 1 800 463-8877
Fax: 1 800 463-6080
info@iel-lachance.com 
https://www.iel-lachance.com/index.htm  


Shellfish Conditions of Licence:

11. Gear and equipment identification

11.1 Starting April 1, 2023 and for the remainder of the term of this licence, the licence holder shall ensure all gear and equipment listed in Appendix VII, be identified in a manner that is:
(a) legible, block letters without ornamentation, durable, long lasting and waterproof; and
(b) branded or other imprinted with identification. If the nature of the gear or equipment makes this impossible the licence holder shall use a fishery tag; and
(c) maintained to ensure legibility.

11.2 Identification shall include:
(a) licence holder name; and
(b) DFO Facility Reference number or BC Land File number

11.3 Starting April 1, 2023 and for the remainder of the term of this licence, all netting stored or in use at a facility shall be identified with a minimum of:
(a) one (1) fishery tag when the length of netting is less than 12 metres; or
(b) two (2) fishery tags when the length of netting is 12 metres or greater.

11.4 Unless otherwise outlined in a DFO approved equipment identification plan, any identification on gear or equipment transferred between facilities shall:
(a) be updated to reflect the current licence holder name, and the current BC Land File number or current DFO Facility Reference number; and
(b) only have the current licence holder and current facility information visible.

11.5 Fishery tags shall be produced by a DFO approved tag supplier for Canadian commercial fisheries; or by an approved aquaculture industry association as outlined in Appendix VII.


Appendix VII: Equipment or Gear Identification

Starting April 1, 2023 and for the remainder of the term of this licence, the following types of shellfish aquaculture equipment or gear must be clearly identified:

1. Plastic containers used for culturing shellfish:
- oyster trays and baskets (both sections of two piece gear types, if applicable)
- pouches, including vexar pouches and floatation pouches
- mesh or vexar bags used for the growing of shellfish or used in the collection of oyster spat
- pearl, scallop, lantern nets

2. Types of floatation materials:
- air-filled billets/floats
- foam filled or encased foam billets/floats
- plastic buoys
- round plastic floats

3. Bivalve predator exclusion
- netting, all forms and types


Format for identification

All equipment and gear identified in this appendix shall be clearly labelled with: "Licence Holder Name" followed by the "BC Land File number" or "DFO Facility Reference number", unless otherwise outlined in a DFO approved equipment identification plan attached to this licence.
Example:
GENERAL SHELLFISH CO LF#555555
GENERAL SHELLFISH CO FACILITY#1111

Licence holders are not eligible to become a DFO approved tag supplier. Aquaculture Associations may request approval to become a DFO approved tag supplier by contacting: shellfish.aquaculture@dfo-mpo.gc.ca.  

Refer to the Shellfish Aquaculture Licence for all of the conditions of licence: https://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/aquaculture/licence-permis/docs/licence-cond-permis-shell-coq/index-eng.html  

For more information, please contact Shellfish.Aquaculture@dfo-mpo.gc.ca  	

Fisheries & Oceans Operations Center - FN1127
Sent October 25, 2021 at 0957

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Visit Fisheries and Oceans Canada on the Web at http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Printed from the Pacific Region web site on December 26, 2024 at 1143