Protocol for Gear Tagging in Atlantic Commercial Fisheries

APPLICATION

This protocol applies to fishing gear tagging for all commercial fisheries (including communal commercial) where prior to the 2013 fishing season, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) was providing gear tags to the commercial fishing industry.

As is currently the case, DFO will continue to provide tags in the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna fishery, and where they are required in non-commercial fisheries (recreational, scientific, food, social and ceremonial).

Commencing April 1, 2013, following a repeal of the gear tagging requirements contained in the Atlantic Fishery Regulations, where gear tagging is required in a commercial fishery, this will be enforced through licence conditions. Harvesters must tag their gear with a valid tag that has been obtained under a DFO Approved Tagging Plan that has been submitted to DFO by a tag supplier.

APPROVED TAG SUPPLIER

A tag supplier that has been identified in a Tagging Plan approved by DFO shall be referred to as an “approved tag supplier”.

DFO will maintain a list of all DFO Approved Tagging Plans that identify “approved suppliers” on regional internet sites. Fish harvesters may obtain gear tags from any “approved tag supplier” that services their fishing area.

DFO Criteria for Tagging Plan Approval

In order for DFO to approve a Tagging Plan, the following conditions must be met:

Submission of Tagging Plan

• Unless otherwise provided for by DFO, applications for approval of a Tagging Plan shall be submitted annually, at least 120¹ days prior to the opening of the commercial fishery(s) for which the application is being made.
  
  
• The proponent of a Tagging Plan shall submit their Tagging Plan application to the DFO regional office responsible for managing fisheries or licensing fishing vessels in the area to which their application applies.
  
  
• Where a Tagging Plan proponent is submitting a plan for a fishing area managed by more than one DFO regional office, or fished by fleets from more than one DFO region, the proponent shall submit their proposed Tagging Plan to one of the DFO regional offices responsible for managing that fishing area or responsible for licensing vessels that fish in that area.
  
  
• Where a Tagging Plan proponent submits an Atlantic wide Tagging Plan, the proponent shall submit that plan to the DFO regional office in the DFO region where that proponent is located.
  
  
• Applications shall be submitted to the office of the Director of Resource Management (Attention: Tagging Officer) at the address set out below:

• Where DFO has approved a Tagging Plan, the proponent of that plan will be required to submit an application to renew that plan in each successive calendar year, unless the approved plan is a multi-year tagging plan, in which case an application to renew must be submitted 120 days prior to the expiry date of that Multi-Year Tagging Plan.

Areas/Fisheries to be Supplied

• A Tagging Plan shall set out the geographic area and the fisheries that the tag supplier is committed to servicing. Tag suppliers may provide service to one fleet sector in a single fishing area, to multiple fleets in one or more areas or they may provide their service on an Atlantic wide basis.

Duration of Tagging Plan

• The majority of tagging programs will be for a one-year period, unless multi-year tagging programs are implemented with the agreement of DFO and fish harvesters.
  
  
• Tag suppliers must set out in their Tagging Plan whether they will be supplying annual or multi-year tagging programs or both. Different requirements for annual and multi-year programs are set out in this document and these must be addressed in proposals from tag suppliers.
  
  
• The decision on whether an area/fishery will adopt a multi-year tagging program is usually made as part of the consultative advisory process between DFO and industry.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA FOR TAGGING PLANS

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans will assess Tagging Plans against the following criteria:

Tag Supplier

• The Tagging Plan must identify the tag supplier for that plan. Tag suppliers may be, but are not limited to, the following groups and entities:
  • Aboriginal organizations;
  • Band councils;
  • Bona-fide groups or associations representing harvesters;
  • Cooperatives;
  • Corporations/for-profit organizations;
  • Dockside Monitoring Companies;
  • Harvester certification boards;
  • Incorporated associations;
  • Marketing boards;
  • Not-for-profit organizations;
  • Tag manufacturers; and
  • Trade unions.
    
    
• Where a group or other entity is identified as a tag supplier in a Tagging Plan, and that group or entity is not a band council, an aboriginal organization or an existing bona-fide organization, group or association representing harvesters, that group or entity or any member of that group or entity shall not hold a commercial fishing licence in that fishery.
  
  
• Licence holders are not eligible to become tag suppliers.
  
  
• A tagging plan will not be approved where approving that plan will result in a conflict of interest between the tag supplier and licence holders.
  
  
• A Tagging Plan shall set out the contact person for purposes of administering the plan.
  
  
• Tagging plan proponents must demonstrate that they have the ability to serve harvesters in the official language of the Region that they are proposing to serve. Proponents of an Atlantic-wide tagging plan must be able to provide their service to harvesters in both official languages.

Description of the Tag to be Used

• The Tagging Plan shall include a description of the tag to be used. This description shall include; the manufacturer of the tag, the size and construction of the tag, a description of the locking mechanism that renders the tag tamperproof, and how the information that DFO requires on the tag will be printed or inscribed on the tag to ensure that it is waterproof and legible.
  
  
• The Tagging Plan must demonstrate that the tag to be used in the plan is tamperproof and will remain legible for the duration of the plan.
  
  
• The Tagging Plan must provide that the following information will be included on each tag:
  • Fishing Area;
  • Tag Supplier Identification Number assigned by DFO to the tag supplier when their tagging plan is approved;
  • a unique sequential number; and
  • identification of the tag manufacturer.
    
    
• The format for including the above information on each tag shall be:

• The Tagging Plan must provide that gear tags issued to each licensed  harvester will be numbered consecutively and the total number of tags issued to a licensed harvester as part of their initial tag allowance will not:
  • exceed the gear limits in place for the fishery for which those tags have been issued, or
  • exceed the gear limits in place for the for the fishery for which those tags have been issued and the number of replacement tags allowed under Option I as described under the heading Replacement Tags, where that replacement option has been implemented by DFO in consultation with harvesters.

Colour of Tags

• Multi-year tags - Tags supplied for fisheries where multi-year Tagging Plans apply may be metal or traditional polyurethane type tags. Polyurethane type tags used for multi-year Tagging Plans may only be natural or white (Pantone² 001) in colour. Tags of any colour other than white or natural cannot be used for multi-year Tagging Plans.
  
  
• Single year or annual Tagging Plans - A different colour tag will be required each year, to provide visual confirmation that valid current year tags are attached to fishing gear. Tag colours will be:
  • 2013 - Purple– Pantone² 240C
  • 2014 - Green – Pantone² 348
  • 2015 - Yellow – Pantone² 108C
    
    
• A Tagging Plan must set out whether the supplier will be supplying multi-year or annual gear tags and must set out the appropriate colour for the supply period.

Replacement Tags

• A Tagging Plan shall set out the process to provide licence holders with replacement tags to allow for tags that are lost or damaged during the fishing season or the term of a multi-year Tagging Plan. Currently, DFO is prepared to approve two options for tag replacement:
  
  
  • Option 1: 10% Rule
    Licence holders may be provided with an extra tag allowance above the number of tags that equals the trap limit in their fishery. This extra allowance shall be issued as part of the initial tag allowance. This extra tag allowance shall not exceed 10% of the licensee’s trap limit and shall continue in consecutive numbers from the last number coinciding with the trap limit.
    
    
  • Option 2: Replacement Tags on an As Request Basis
    Licence holders may be provided with replacement tags by the approved tag supplier on an as needed basis. When this option is chosen the Tagging Plan must set out how the approved tag supplier will identify these replacement tags, and set out whether these tags will be issued as single tags, multiple tags or complete replacement sets. The Tagging Plan shall set out the supplier’s delivery standard which shall be no more than 2 business days between written receipt of a request for replacement tags and delivery to the licence holder, unless otherwise agreed upon between the tag supplier and industry^3. Such agreement shall be documented in writing and submitted by the proponent with their Tagging Plan application.
    
    
• The decision on which option(s) will be implemented in an area/fishery is determined by DFO further to consultations with harvesters.
  
  
• Tagging Plans shall set out the replacement option(s) that will be provided by the tag supplier. 
  
  
• A Tagging Plan shall provide that replacement tags will be the same colour as the original tags that they are replacing and that multi-year tags will be replaced with multi-year tags.
  
  
• Tagging Plans shall include a commitment that the approved tag supplier will only provide replacement tags to those licence holders who obtained their initial tag allotment from that tag supplier.

Distribution of Tags

• A Tagging Plan must provide that tags will only be issued to harvesters who hold a licence in the fishery for which the tags are required.
• A Tagging Plan must identify how original and replacement tags will be provided or distributed to harvesters and whether tags will be shipped directly from a manufacturer or third party to the harvester.

Record Keeping

• A Tagging Plan shall describe how and where records on the issuance of original and replacement tags will be completed, maintained and retained. The Tagging Plan shall set out the method for maintaining records electronically in a format that is compatible with DFO data processing programs. DFO may require that records be submitted in a standard format set out by the Department. Tagging Plan applicants should contact the appropriate DFO regional office prior to submitting their application, in order to seek advice on the preferred methods and formats for record keeping.
  
  
• A Tagging Plan shall provide that the following information will be recorded for each licence holder to whom tags are issued:
  • Name of licence holder.
  • Licence number.
  • Date of initial tag request.
  • Date tags shipped or delivered and delivery address.
  • Number of tags shipped and the sequence numbers for those tags (including the number of the first tag and the number of the last tag in the sequence), including up to 10% replacement option if applicable).
  • Date of any request for replacement tags by the licence holder.
  • Number and description of any replacement tags issued.
  • Date that replacement tags were shipped and delivery address.
  • Confirmation that DFO was advised of the issuance of replacement tags within 24 hours of the tags being supplied to the licence holder.
    
    
• The Tagging Plan shall provide that the records referred to above are accessible to DFO Fishery Officers at any time, and that DFO may use these records for court, program audit or other purposes. The Tagging Plan shall indicate that at the time harvesters are provided with tags each harvester will be notified that this information is accessible to or may be provided to DFO. The “approved supplier” shall maintain a record of having provided this notification to each harvester.
  
  
• A Tagging Plan shall also set out that the Tag Supplier will provide the Fisheries and Oceans Canada office that approved their tagging plan with the name and licence number of each licence holder to whom original tags have been issued and the sequential numbers for the tags issued to that licence holder prior to the opening date of the fishery for which those tags have been issued and on a daily basis whenever tags are issued for that fishery after the opening date. These reports shall be provided by email to the applicable email address set out below in the notification provisions for the issuance of replacement tags.
  
  
• A Tagging Plan shall provide, in addition to the record keeping requirements set out above, that the Tag Supplier will notify the regional DFO office by email that replacement tags have been issued for fisheries in that Region, within 24 hours of issuing such replacement tags. Email addresses for this notification are:

Gulf Region - GulfInfoGolfe@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Maritimes Region - XMARTAGS@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Newfoundland and Labrador Region - annette.rumbolt@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Quebec Region - infostatqc@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

• As an alternative to sending the above notification by email, at the time of approving a Tagging Plan, DFO may request that the notification be provided within 24 hours of tag issuance, by fax to a number that DFO provides to the Tag Supplier.
  
  
• The notification referred to in the preceding paragraphs shall include:
  • the name of the licence holder;
  • licence number;
  • species/fishery for which replacements tags have been issued;
  • the number of replacement tags issued;
  • description of replacement tags; and
  • date that replacement tags were shipped and delivery address.
    
    
• Information provided to DFO is subject to the provisions of the Access to Information Act and of the Privacy Act.

Reviews and Audits

• A Tagging Plan shall clearly set out the obligation of the approved tag supplier to cooperate with and participate in operational reviews and audits that DFO undertakes regarding the administration and effectiveness of that Tagging Plan.

Approval of Tagging Plan

• The Department will review Tagging Plan proposals to ensure they meet all program standards, and may request discussion with proponents for clarification.
  
  
• The Director of Resource Management or their delegate will advise the proponent of a Tagging Plan, in writing, of the Department’s approval or non-approval of the proposed plan within 30 days of receiving the proponent’s application.
  
  
• Tagging Plans will normally be approved for a period of one (1) year, except for multi-year tagging plans which may be approved for periods of up to three (3) years.
  
  
• The approval of a Tagging Plan does not create any binding agreement, or contract, between a proponent and DFO.

Approval or Renewal in Subsequent Years

• Approval of a Tagging Plan is not an assurance of approval or renewal of that Tagging Plan in subsequent years.
  
  
• Where a proponent is found to be in non-compliance with an Approved Tagging Plan, subsequent applications for Tagging Plan approval or renewal from that proponent may be rejected by DFO.
  
  
• Proponents of Tagging Plans should be aware that the requirement for gear tagging and the requirement for Tagging Plans may change from year to year. The criteria set out in this document for Tagging Plan approval may change as determined by DFO for operational or other reasons. Tagging Plans will be reviewed during post-season fishery reviews and during industry consultations on fishing plans.

Effective Date: December 31, 2012

---