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New Rules to Improve Atlantic Fishery Management

An Act to amend the Fisheries Act (Atlantic groundfish fisheries)

Summary

  • Harmonizes close times for recreational Atlantic groundfish across provinces and allows close times to be set only in relation to each species’ spawning period.
  • Requires the Minister to table an annual report to Parliament on the administration and enforcement of the Fisheries Act.
  • Mandates DFO to publish any close time or quota changes online at least two months before they take effect.
  • Expands record‑keeping/reporting powers to include daily and seasonal counts of fish caught by each person.
  • Directs the Minister to build, within one year, a species-by-species catch monitoring system recording time and location, exploring funding via existing fees/penalties and using incentives (including fee reductions) for timely reporting.

Builder Assessment

Vote No

The bill improves predictability and transparency but hard-codes inflexibility that could impair conservation, emergency response, and long-term economic outcomes for coastal communities. The risks to stock sustainability and operational agility outweigh the administrative benefits.

  • Allow science-based emergency changes to close times and quotas without a two-month delay to protect stocks and ensure on-water safety.
  • Remove the “spawning-only” restriction and permit closures for broader conservation and safety triggers (e.g., stock declines, bycatch risks, habitat protection, whale presence).
  • Clarify that the notice and harmonization provisions apply only to Atlantic recreational groundfish, not to commercial or other fisheries.
  • Keep harmonization as a baseline while allowing region-specific adjustments when science supports them and where Indigenous management requires it.
  • Deliver a low-burden, digital-by-default reporting tool with offline options, minimize personal data collected, and commit to no net increase in fees by offsetting costs with internal efficiencies.

Question Period Cards

Why does the bill prohibit non-spawning closures and require two months’ notice for close times and quotas, when science and safety often demand rapid, emergency measures to protect depleted stocks or respond to hazards?

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What is the expected compliance burden and total cost of the new monitoring system for recreational anglers and charter operators, and will the minister commit to no net new fees and a simple, privacy-protecting digital reporting option?

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How will a one-size-fits-all harmonized season across Atlantic provinces account for local stock conditions and Indigenous co-management, and will the government amend the bill to allow region-specific variation where science requires it?

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Principles Analysis

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Canada should aim to be the world's most prosperous country.

Rigid rules (spawn-only closures and a two‑month lead time) could undermine timely conservation and stock health, risking long-run economic harm to coastal communities despite some gains in predictability.

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Promote economic freedom, ambition, and breaking from bureaucratic inertia (reduce red tape).

Harmonization and advance notice reduce regulatory volatility, but added reporting obligations and potential new fees increase compliance friction for anglers and charter operators.

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Drive national productivity and global competitiveness.

Impacts are localized to Atlantic recreational fisheries; predictability may help tourism operators, but reduced agility in management can damage the resource base they rely on.

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Grow exports of Canadian products and resources.

The bill targets recreational fishing, with negligible direct effect on export volumes.

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Encourage investment, innovation, and resource development.

Better data could help management, but restricting closures to spawning periods and requiring long lead times for changes heighten biological and regulatory risk, discouraging sustainable investment.

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Deliver better public services at lower cost (government efficiency).

Harmonization simplifies rules and annual reporting improves transparency, yet building and administering a new monitoring system and rigid notice periods add costs and reduce operational agility.

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Reform taxes to incentivize work, risk-taking, and innovation.

No tax reform is proposed; fee-based incentives are contemplated but do not materially change tax structures.

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Focus on large-scale prosperity, not incrementalism.

The bill addresses a narrow, regional recreational fishery; benefits and risks are modest in national scope.

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C-237

PartyConservative
StatusOutside the Order of Precedence
Last updatedSep 22, 2025
TopicsEnvironmental Protection, Trade and Commerce
Parliament45