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

This bill makes several changes to the Fisheries Act specifically affecting Atlantic groundfish fishing, particularly recreational fishing. It adds a new principle that stability and predictability matter for recreational groundfish fishers, and it requires that regulations governing closed fishing seasons be harmonized across all Atlantic provinces, so that closures on any given species happen at consistent times tied to that species' spawning period rather than varying province by province.

The bill also changes reporting rules. The Minister of Fisheries and Oceans must now produce an annual report on how the Act is being administered and enforced, rather than reporting less frequently or informally. Any changes to closed seasons or fishing quotas made through variation orders or regulations must be posted publicly on the Department's website at least two months before they take effect, giving fishers advance notice. Additionally, fishers can now be required to record and report the number of fish they catch each day and over an entire season, expanding what information the Act allows the government to collect.

Finally, the bill requires the Minister to create, within one year, a new monitoring system that tracks how many fish are caught, broken down by species, along with when and where each catch occurred. In building this system, the Minister must consult key stakeholders, look at best practices already used elsewhere in Canada, consider funding the system through existing fees and penalties under the Act, and find ways to encourage fishers to comply with reporting requirements on time, such as reducing certain fees for those who do.

This bill amends the Fisheries Act to require harmonized close times for Atlantic recreational groundfish fishing, mandate publication of close times and quotas, expand record-keeping requirements for fish catches, and require the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to develop a catch-monitoring system.

• Regulatory requirement — regulations made under paragraph 43(1)(a) must harmonize close times across Atlantic provinces for recreational groundfish fishing, and these close times may only be set in relation to a species' spawning period.
• Publication obligation — any close time or fishing quota set or varied under paragraph 43(1)(m) or other regulations under subsection 43(1) must be published on the Department of Fisheries and Oceans website at least two months before taking effect.
• Record-keeping expansion — the Act's existing information/record-keeping provisions (subsection 61(2)) are expanded to include the number of fish caught per person per day and the total caught during an open season, adding a new category of information certain persons may be required to report or record.
• New reporting duty on the Minister — the annual report to Parliament on administration and enforcement of the Act must now be prepared and tabled "as soon as feasible" after each fiscal year, with no further detail on format or content.
• Monitoring system mandate — within one year of the Act coming into force, the Minister must, in consultation with "key stakeholders" (undefined), develop a system to record catch numbers by species, time, and location; the bill does not specify the system's design, technology, or enforcement mechanism, leaving these to the Minister's discretion.
• Discretionary considerations — in building the monitoring system, the Minister must consider existing models/best practices, examine whether fees and penalties under the Act could cover administrative costs, and identify incentive measures (such as fee reductions) for timely compliance — but the bill does not mandate specific fee structures, penalty amounts, or incentive designs, leaving these choices to future regulation or ministerial decision.