Food > Fish and Seafood > Shellfish Sanitation 

Canadian Shellfish Sanitation Program (CSSP)

Harvest Site Information Phone Numbers

Roles and Responsibilities

The Fish, Seafood and Production Division, Canadian Food Inspection Agency:

• regulates the import and export, processing, packaging, labelling, shipping, certification, storage, repacking of shellfish to protect against contamination and product quality degradation, to maintain source and lot identity and integrity. Suspends operations or decertifies shellfish processors on the basis of unacceptable operating and sanitation conditions.
• regulates the depuration (i.e., controlled purification) of shellstock, verifies product quality and purification effectiveness, maintains production and product quality records,
• evaluates laboratories performing shellfish analyses in accordance with the requirements of the CSSP and maintains a biotoxin surveillance program of shellfish growing areas in support of DFO and CFIA activities.

Environment Canada:

• classifies all actual and potential shellfish growing areas as to their suitability for shellfish harvesting on the basis of sanitary quality and public health safety.

Fisheries & Oceans Canada, Fisheries Management:

• controls the harvesting of shellfish from areas which are classified as contaminated or otherwise closed;
• patrols growing areas, apprehends and prosecutes persons violating restrictions;
• regulates and supervises relaying, transplanting and replanting;
• restricts harvesting of shellfish from actual and potentially affected growing areas in a public health emergency;
• regulates licenses, harvesting locations and times and minimum harvest sizes for stock management purposes.