Lifestyle of a fishery officer (work description)

Your life will change the moment you put on your fishery officer uniform. Find out what this career has in store for you.

On this page

• Overview
• Skills and knowledge
• Responsibilities
• Related links

Overview

Some days, you’ll investigate fisheries and habitat offences. Other days will test your social skills as you inspire future generations to use resources in a sustainable way.

You’ll meet with fish harvesters, industry leaders and the public to promote compliance, protection and conservation.

As a fishery officer, you’ll educate the public on issues of compliance and conservation. You’ll work with the public and other officials to develop new managing and protection measures for fish and their habitat.

Even when you take off your uniform, you’ll be fully immersed in the surrounding environment, activities, values and communities of your post.

Skills and knowledge

To do your job, the fishery officer initial training program will help to prepare you as you'll need to be familiar with:

• fishing gear
• aids to navigation
• fishing techniques
• fishing licence conditions
• fishing vessel hold layouts
• how to safely operate vessels and patrol vehicles in all conditions during:
  • pursuits
  • roadblocks
  • vessel towing and trailering
  • armed boardings
• installing and monitoring tracking devices and other surveillance equipment
• logbooks used by resource harvesters to help you safely and effectively detect violations and carry out enforcement

In addition, you must understand:

• the nature and delivery of enforcement programs
• the Canada Labour Code, departmental policies and procedures
• international acts, treaties, fishing plans, fishing agreements and protocols with First Nations people and the role of a fishery officer with respect to Reconciliation.
• the role and responsibilities of third party contractors who support monitoring and enforcement activities
• the departmental mandate, organizational structures, and enforcement and compliance activities of each work unit
• principles and techniques under the use of force continuum to ensure your own safety and that of your colleagues and the public
• marine and freshwater fisheries biology and ecology in relation to conservation goals and plans for fisheries and habitat management

Acts and regulations

You’ll also need to know about acts, orders and regulations that:

• affect the collection and release of sensitive enforcement information
• govern fishing activity in the Indigenous, commercial and recreational fisheries
• are enforced by other agencies when an agreement exists between us and another party, like the Canadian Wildlife Service (Environment Canada and Climate Change) or RCMP, for:
  • emergency response situations
  • collaborative enforcement operations
  • joint international patrols and enforcement activities
• you’re responsible for enforcing as a peace officer and the proper application of authority and obligations under the Criminal Code of Canada

Legal matters

From a legal standpoint, you must be aware of:

• how to monitor, investigate, conduct audits and gather intelligence
• investigative techniques used in interviewing witnesses and accused persons
• the requirements for preparing and executing search warrants to avoid losing evidence
• enforcement-specific principles, procedures and judicial processes related to criminal and civil law
  • sometimes, you may need to act as the Crown and/or an expert witness in court
  • mostly, you’ll be the primary advisor to the Crown, which means providing advice, guidance and direction in violation cases
• various computer programs that are used to investigate, gather and link different pieces of evidence
• the organization necessary to present data from various sources in a clear and logical manner to convince a court of a violation

Domestic and international operations

Your range of knowledge also expands to the operation of urban and industrial facilities, such as:

• mines
• sewers
• logging
• pulp mills
• agriculture
• oil and gas
• highway or hydro projects

You’ll need to know how to safely monitor these operations and collect violations evidence.

Because your duties and authority are far-reaching, you’ll need to understand:

• how your decisions and actions impact domestic or international operations
• the external environment of domestic and international fishing-related business, including the political, socio-economic and cultural concerns

Communication

One of your greatest assets on the job will be excellent written and oral skills. You’ll use these to:

• interview suspects and witnesses
• present testimony in court for major investigations
• prepare court briefs and documents related to enforcement operations
• develop and adapt interactive educational displays for different audiences
• deliver responses to small-scale crisis situations and to settle disputes through effective negotiation
• persuade individuals, client groups, heads of corporations, their legal counsel and the general public to accept our strategies and policies on fisheries and habitat management
  • this may include information sessions to help educate on acts, policies, regulations, programs and priorities

Analysis

Your days will be full of intellectual stimulation, as you work to:

• provide advice and recommendations on:
  • approaches to improve the effectiveness of:
    • surveillance activities
    • enforcement operations
    • co-management accords
    • fishery and habitat management plans
  • the success or failure of enforcement activities
  • how practical and enforceable management measures are, such as licence conditions
• search for information on harvest activities for status reports, such as:
  • catches to date
  • levels of compliance
  • species composition of catch
• assess situations, deciding on evidence to be collected and the best course of enforcement action
• analyze intelligence, observations, witness statements, documents and pictures to identify enforcement issues and prepare court briefs

Responsibilities

Fishery officers are responsible for human resources, money and physical assets.

Human resources

Training and coaching are essential for trainees to learn on-the-job. You’ll provide this feedback and report on their progress. At times, you may also need to train individuals from other enforcement agencies or public organizations.

You must also provide:

• input and make recommendations for establishing operational priorities and plans
• status reports to your supervisor, fish or habitat managers, including the department’s Science Sector

Money

Fishery officers are responsible for:

• issuing stop work orders due to fish habitat
• seizing vessels, vehicles, fish catches and equipment
• shutting down fish plant operation for forensic investigations

These enforcement activities have major financial impact on individuals and/or communities as well as domestic and/or international:

• industries
• companies
• organizations

After an enforcement operation, you’ll have to:

• keep safe any seized cash or assets
• negotiate the best possible price for the sale of seized articles, such as fish or fishing gear

You’ll be expected to make purchases using a government-issued credit card.

In some remote areas, you’ll have to collect licence fees.

Physical assets

Fishery officers are responsible for the use and maintenance of physical assets, such as:

• vessels
• vehicles
• work camps
• navigation equipment
• personal enforcement equipment like:
  • sidearms
  • pepper spray
  • a portable radio

The integrity of seized or gathered evidence for investigations falls to you, including highly sensitive documents.

Related links

• Apply to be a fishery officer
• Training and recruitment