Fishing

The Canadian Hydrographic Service develops and maintains nautical charts, which are tailored to the specific needs of both the commercial and recreational fishers, important clients to CHS. Nautical charts provide a wealth of information to enhance the fishing experience while promoting water safety, a top priority for CHS.

Commercial Fishing

Commercial fishing is a very important and significant client of the CHS. Fishers are interested in hydrographic information not only for the safe navigation of their fishing fleet, but also as a tool to increase their production. CHS must provide information on seabed contours, bottom classification, types, and water tides and currents. Other Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) programs are looking to CHStechnology applications in developing alternate methods of assessing fish populations and migrations.

By constantly updating and maintaining this information, CHS ensures that commercial fishing continues to be a safe and thriving economic activity in Canadian waters.

Recreational Fishing

According to the 1995 Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) led survey of recreational fishing, there are over 4.2 million anglers in Canada. Add to this the 749,000 anglers visiting the country every year. Canadian anglers alone fished for 55.5 million days and caught over 254 million fish of all species. From these statistics, it's obvious that recreational fishing in Canada is growing dramatically in popularity.

CHSis committed to providing accurate and up-to-date information to promote boater safety. Special nautical charts have been developed exclusively for the recreational fisher. These charts are larger in scale and depict information on the seabed contours and bottom classification. The kind of sea bottom may indicate to fishers what species of fish may be found in the area. The demand for electronic charts is increasing as well by the sports fishery, a major client of CHS.

Products & Services

Check out the marine information highway for a complete list of products and related services tailored to the commercial or recreational fisher.

Electronic Navigational Charts (ENCs) are distributed under the trademark digital ocean^TM, by Nautical Data International, Inc. (NDI), the official distributor of digital hydrographic products for CHS.

Notices to Mariners

Notices to Mariners (NOTMAR) are electronic bulletins, detailing newly discovered hazards to shipping, and changes in aids to navigation such as buoys and lights. They are issued monthly in collaboration with, and through the offices of the Canadian Coast Guard.

Dealers

CHS products are available from one of over 700 authorized chart dealers across the country.

This site is maintained by the Canadian Hydrographic Service.