Owner-Operator Policy Legal Challenge Withdrawn
A legal challenge to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans owner-operator policy could have set a legal precedent that would threaten the future of the independent inshore fishery, some in the industry believed.
The owner-operator policy was enacted to ensure that ownership of inshore fishing vessels remained in the hands of inshore fishermen, not corporate entities.
The case, which was scheduled to be heard Feb. 28, involved Kirby Elson, a Labrador snow crab fisherman and the federal ...
New Entrants to Fishery Need to Meet Exact DFO Criteria
Acquiring a fishing license used to be as easy as walking up to your local DFO office and springing a few bucks and voila, you could legally prosecute this fishery.
There were a lot of loopholes with this scenario, chief of which was that non-fishermen would take their vacations during the opening weeks of the lobster fishing season in LFA 34, for example, acquire a license and reap the benefits then go back to their day jobs.
This policy was finally changed, limiting the licenses to ...
