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Ministry of Agriculture

Licensing, Compliance, and Enforcement

Commercial Fisheries Program

Overview

The Commercial Fisheries Program administers the following acts and regulations:

A key function of the Program is the responsibility to receive, adjudicate and issue commercial seafood licences and permits for the following:

  • commercial seafood activities, including fish buying stations, fish and marine plant processing and cold storage facilities; fish vendors and fish brokers;
  • commercial harvests of wild marine plants and wild oysters.

The Commercial Fisheries Program also has the responsibility to monitor, inspect and report on commercial fisheries.

Licensing Staff

The Director, Food Protection Branch, holds delegated authority from the Minister of Agriculture to issue licences under the Fisheries Act and Fish Inspection Act, is responsible for the overall supervision of the Commercial Fisheries Program, and has responsibility for the ministry’s fisheries-related licensing and compliance work.

The Director is located in the Courtenay office and reports to the Assistant Deputy Minister of the Strategic Industry Partnership Division, located at the Ministry’s head office in Victoria.

The Director is supported in licensing functions by a Manager and a licensing clerk who are located in the Courtenay office.  With respect to compliance and enforcement, the Director is supported by a number of Fisheries Inspectors.

Types of Licences Issued by the Program

The Branch licenses the following types of facilities and operations.

Fish Processors and Cold-Storage Facilities

Any person engaged in the processing of fish or aquatic plants is required to hold a processing licence. The term "processing" is defined broadly in the Fisheries Act and Fish Inspection Act to include eviscerating, filleting, icing, freezing, canning, packaging, smoking, salting, cooking, pickling, drying, preserving or preparing for market.

Persons engaged in processing for interprovincial and international trade also require a licence under the federal Fish Inspection Act. Branch licensing officials can provide the names of appropriate contacts in the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, upon request.

Fish Buyers

A fish buying station includes any building, structure, vehicle or vessel that is used for buying, collecting, assembling, transporting, conveying, packing or carrying fish directly from a fisher.

Any person who operates a fish buying station requires a licence, with the exception of:

  1. processors who buy fish at a duly licensed plant,
  2. persons who buy fish for their personal use
  3. persons who hold a fish broker's licence (discussed below)
Fish Vendors

Fishers are allowed to sell their catch (other than shellfish) directly to individuals for personal use, if they hold a valid fish vending licence.

The Ministry of Health also regulates road-side sales of fish. Branch licensing staff can provide the names of appropriate contacts in the Ministry of Health, upon request.

Fish Brokers

The term "fish broker" is defined to mean a person who buys or offers to buy fish (whether for themselves or for another person), on a commission basis or otherwise. However, the definition excludes:

  1. persons who hold an aquaculture licence, a processing license, buying station license or vending license
  2. persons who buy fish for their personal use
  3. persons who buy fish for resale to others for personal use (e.g. restaurants and retail stores)
Marine Plants

Any person who wishes to harvest wild kelp or aquatic plants for commercial purposes must hold a valid licence. Similarly, a person must hold a valid licence to operate a plant for treating, drying or otherwise processing kelp or aquatic plants.

The term "kelp" includes the species Macrocystis intergrifolia and Nereocistis luetkeana. The term "aquatic plant" includes benthic and detached algae, marine flowering plants, brown algae, red algae, green algae and phytoplankton.

A licence to harvest wild marine plants is required to harvest kelp as part of the spawn on kelp fishery.

Wild Oysters

A person must not harvest or possess wild oysters from vacant Crown foreshore for commercial purposes, unless they hold a valid permit to do so.

Harvest or possession of wild oysters is deemed to be for "commercial purposes" if:

  1. they have been gathered for any purpose other than domestic consumption unconnected with any kind of commercial transaction,
  2. on the day they are gathered they are shucked on the foreshore and the total volume is over 500 ml, or they are not shucked on the foreshore and the total number is over 15
  3. the persons holds more than 30 oysters or 1 litre of shucked oysters from Crown foreshore (unless the oysters were acquired in compliance with the regulations)

Permits to take oysters from vacant Crown foreshore fronting an Indian reserve require the written consent of the upland owner.

Further information regarding licence requirements and application processes can be obtained from the Branch.

Applying for a Licence

Application forms are available from the Courtenay office of the Commercial Fisheries Program at the phone numbers provided below.

Completed application forms must be returned to the Courtenay office.

Cooperation with Other Agencies

The Commerical Fisheries Program, Ministry of Agriculture, works closely with other government agencies, including:

Responsible for the management of all tidal commercial fisheries in and off the coast of B.C., as well as non-tidal anadromous fisheries.

Responsible for administration of the Environmental Management Act, and the licensing and enforcement of non-tidal recreational fisheries.

Responsible for monitoring the water quality of shellfish growing areas and the classification of these areas with respect to shellfish harvesting based on sanitary survey results. This mandate is accomplished under the Shellfish Water Quality Protection Program.

Responsible for the regulation of food safety under the Health Act and inspection of processing facilities engaged solely in trade within the province.

Responsible for the licensing and regulation of federally approved fish processing facilities under the federal Fish Inspection Act. Federal licensing is required for any processing of fish sold outside of the province, and for processing of farmed salmon or shellfish.

  • Local governments

Responsible for zoning, business licensing, development permits and bylaw enforcement.

Questions or Concerns

If you have any questions regarding licence requirements or you wish to report a compliance concern that may be of interest to the Program, please contact the Llicencing Unit or a Fisheries Inspector at:

Commercial Fisheries Program
2500 Cliffe Ave.
Courtenay, BC V9N 5M6


Reception Telephone: 250 897-7540

If you are calling long distance, you may call Enquiry BC at 604-660-2421 (Vancouver), 250-387-6121 (Victoria), or 1-800-663-7867 (all other areas) and ask to be put through to any of the above numbers, free of charge.

* This document is intended to provide basic information regarding the mandate and operation of the Commercial Fisheries Program.

It should not be relied upon as a sole source of information. Interested parties should review the relevant acts and regulations, and should contact the Program for further information as required.

Licensing, Compliance and Enforcement