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Sentinel Fisheries
Prior to the court decisions, government funds and proceeds from sentinel catches were used to engage commercial groundfish fishers on the Atlantic Coast in structured fishing. The court decisions did not impact the ability of DFO to enter into collaborative, sentinel arrangements with the industry, but these arrangements must no longer contain a use of fish element.
Live Fisheries – Retention and Release
Live Fisheries - Retention and Release relates to retention and release of fish caught for experimental, public display, educational and scientific purposes. The amount of the allocation attached to a licence must only be what is required for the scientific purpose in question; the allocation of fish must not be granted to cover in part or fully the costs related to conduct the research. New guidelines state that licence holders can retain and sell catches from research activities with the stipulation that fish must be returned to the water where there is a reasonable expectation of survival, consistent with commercial fishery conditions in the same area.
Test Fisheries
Test fisheries exist for certain Pacific fisheries to collect data for use by DFO in fisheries management decisions. Prior to the court decisions, compensation provided to fishers for their services were proceeds from unavoidable fish kills in these test fisheries. If these proceeds were insufficient for fishers to cover costs, DFO allowed additional catches for payment purposes, in some instances.
New guidelines stipulate DFO may have these agreements with the industry, but these arrangements may no longer contain a use of fish element. High priority projects will be funded, consistent with overarching conservation principles.
Resource Surveys
Resource surveys include time sensitive activities which must be completed within certain time frames for data integrity/comparability reasons or activities linked to established fishing patterns.
DFO will fund high-priority fisheries science projects this year and on an interim basis until a more comprehensive approach is developed for 2008-09.
Emerging/Exploratory Fisheries
Currently, DFO assigns allocation of fish to collect information. Fishers are allowed to keep the fish, sell it, and retain sale proceeds.
Existing guidelines are legally compliant with the court decisions and will be updated to ensure they are clear. We will continue to use them to develop collaborative arrangements with the industry.
Other (Non-DFO-Industry Activities)
DFO is reviewing these activities.
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