Coastal Fisheries Protection Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-33)

Regulations

Marginal note:Regulations

6 The Governor in Council may make regulations for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Act including, but not limited to, regulations

• (a) for authorizing, by means of licences, permits or otherwise,

  • (i) foreign fishing vessels to enter Canadian fisheries waters for any purpose specified in the regulations,

  • (ii) persons to do all or any of the things described in paragraphs 4(1)(a) to (e), subsection 4(2) or section 5, or

  • (iii) foreign fishing vessels that have been ordered to proceed to a Canadian port by their flag state, or foreign fishing vessels that have been ordered to proceed to a port by their flag state and that proceed to a Canadian port, to enter Canadian fisheries waters for any purpose related to verifying compliance with a law related to fisheries of a foreign state, with any conservation or management measures of a fisheries management organization or with any international fisheries treaty or arrangement to which Canada is party, including any conservation, management or enforcement measures taken under the treaty or arrangement;

• (b) respecting the issuance, suspension and cancellation of any licences or permits provided for under paragraph (a) and prescribing their forms, the fees payable therefor and their terms and conditions, which are in addition to such terms and conditions, if any, as the Minister may specify therein;

• (b.1) prescribing as a straddling stock, for the purposes of section 5.2, any stock of fish that occurs both within Canadian fisheries waters and in an area beyond and adjacent to Canadian fisheries waters;

• (b.2) prescribing any class of foreign fishing vessel for the purposes of section 5.2;

• (b.3) prescribing, for the purposes of section 5.2,

  • (i) any measure for the conservation and management of any straddling stock to be complied with by persons aboard a foreign fishing vessel of a prescribed class in order to ensure that the foreign fishing vessel does not engage in any activity that undermines the effectiveness of conservation and management measures for any straddling stock that are taken under the Convention on Future Multilateral Cooperation in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries, done at Ottawa on October 24, 1978, Canada Treaty Series 1979 No. 11, or

  • (ii) any other measure for the conservation and management of any straddling stock to be complied with by persons aboard a foreign fishing vessel of a prescribed class;

• (b.31) prescribing a fisheries management organization of which Canada is not a member for the purposes of paragraphs 5.6(1)(b) and (2)(b);

• (b.4) prescribing the manner in which and the extent to which a protection officer is permitted to use the force referred to in section 8.1;

• (b.5) prescribing forms that may be used instead of the forms set out in Part XXVIII of the Criminal Code in proceedings against fishing vessels under this Act or the Fisheries Act;

• (c) for appointing or authorizing persons to enforce the provisions of this Act and the regulations;

• (d) for securing and keeping any fishing vessels or things seized pursuant to this Act;

• (d.1) respecting documentation required for the importation of fish and marine plants;

• (e) for the implementation of the Fish Stocks Agreement, including regulations

  • (i) incorporating by reference, or carrying out and giving effect to, any conservation or management measures, as of a fixed date or as they are amended from time to time, of a regional fisheries management organization or arrangement established by two or more states, or by one or more states and an organization of states, for the purpose of the conservation or management of a straddling fish stock or highly migratory fish stock, and designating from among the measures incorporated by reference or regulations made under this subparagraph those the contravention of which is prohibited by paragraph 5.3(a),

  • (ii) designating any area of the sea regulated by the regional fisheries management organization or arrangement,

  • (iii) setting out the circumstances in which a person engaged or employed in the administration or enforcement of this Act may exercise, in a manner consistent with the Fish Stocks Agreement and the measures incorporated by reference and the regulations made under subparagraph (i), the powers conferred by or under this Act and setting out any procedures to be followed in doing so,

  • (iv) empowering the Minister to authorize a state party to the Fish Stocks Agreement to take enforcement action in respect of a Canadian fishing vessel,

  • (v) respecting the manner of service and the giving and sending of summonses, notices, statements and other documents,

  • (vi) permitting Her Majesty in right of Canada to recover any reasonable costs incurred as a result of the detention in port of a fishing vessel of a state party to the Fish Stocks Agreement, and

  • (vii) prescribing a state party to the Fish Stocks Agreement for the purposes of this Act; and

• (f) for the implementation of the provisions of any other international fisheries treaty or arrangement to which Canada is party, including any conservation, management or enforcement measures taken under the treaty or arrangement, including regulations

  • (i) incorporating by reference, or carrying out and giving effect to, any of those measures as of a fixed date or as they are amended from time to time and designating from among the measures incorporated by reference or regulations made under this subparagraph those the contravention of which is prohibited by section 5.4,

  • (ii) designating any area of the sea regulated by the treaty or arrangement,

  • (iii) setting out the circumstances in which a person engaged or employed in the administration or enforcement of this Act may exercise, in a manner consistent with the treaty or arrangement and the measures incorporated by reference or regulations made under subparagraph (i), the powers conferred by or under this Act and setting out any procedures to be followed in doing so,

  • (iv) empowering the Minister to authorize a state that is party to the treaty or arrangement to take enforcement action in respect of a Canadian fishing vessel,

  • (v) respecting the manner of service and the giving and sending of summonses, notices, statements and other documents, and

  • (vi) permitting Her Majesty in right of Canada to recover any reasonable costs incurred as a result of the detention in port of a fishing vessel of a state that is party to the treaty or arrangement.

Inspection, Arrest, Seizure and Forfeiture

Marginal note:Definition of place

7 For the purposes of sections 7.1, 7.4, 7.6 and 9, place includes

• (a) a fishing vessel found within Canadian fisheries waters or the NAFO Regulatory Area;

• (b) any other vehicle, including a vessel or aircraft; and

• (c) a container.

7.01 [Repealed, 2015, c. 18, s. 6]

Marginal note:Entry — any place

• 7.1 (1) A protection officer may, for a purpose related to verifying compliance with this Act, enter any place in which the protection officer has reasonable grounds to believe that

  • (a) there is any fish, marine plant or other thing in respect of which this Act applies;

  • (b) there has been carried on, is being carried on or is likely to be carried on any activity in respect of which this Act applies; or

  • (c) there are any records, books or other documents, including documents in electronic form, concerning anything referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b).

• Marginal note:Entry — fishing vessel within Canadian fisheries waters or NAFO Regulatory Area

  (2) Despite subsection (1), a protection officer may board a fishing vessel found within Canadian fisheries waters or the NAFO Regulatory Area for a purpose related to verifying compliance with this Act.

• Marginal note:Powers on entry

  (3) The protection officer referred to in subsection (1) or (2) may, for a purpose related to verifying compliance with this Act,

  • (a) examine anything in the place;

  • (b) use any means of communication in the place or cause it to be used;

  • (c) use any computer system in the place, or cause it to be used, to examine data contained in or available to it;

  • (d) prepare a document, or cause one to be prepared, based on the data;

  • (e) use any copying equipment in the place or cause it to be used;

  • (f) conduct tests or analyses of anything in the place;

  • (g) take measurements or samples of anything in the place;

  • (h) take photographs or make recordings or sketches of anything in the place;

  • (i) remove anything found in the place;

  • (j) direct any person to put any machinery, vehicle or equipment in the place into operation or to cease operating it; and

  • (k) prohibit or limit access to all or part of the place or to anything in the place.

• Marginal note:Entry — fishing vessels ordered to port by flag state

  (4) A protection officer may, for a purpose related to verifying compliance with a law related to fisheries of a foreign state, with any conservation or management measures of a fisheries management organization or with an international fisheries treaty or arrangement to which Canada is party, including any conservation, management or enforcement measures taken under the treaty or arrangement, board a foreign fishing vessel that was authorized to enter Canadian fisheries waters under subparagraph 6(a)(iii).

• Marginal note:Powers on entry

  (5) The protection officer may, for the purpose referred to in subsection (4), exercise the powers referred to in subsection (3) to the extent that the exercise of those powers is authorized by the foreign state or is provided for in the measures, treaty or arrangement in question.

• Marginal note:Duty to assist

  (6) The owner or person in charge of a place and every person in the place shall give all assistance that is reasonably required to enable a protection officer to perform his or her functions under this section and shall provide any document or information, and access to any data, that is reasonably required for that purpose.

Marginal note:Person accompanying protection officer

7.2 A protection officer may be accompanied by any other person that the protection officer believes is necessary to help him or her perform his or her functions under this Act.

Marginal note:Stopping and detaining vehicle

7.3 A protection officer may, for a purpose related to verifying compliance with this Act, direct that any vehicle, including a fishing vessel found within Canadian fisheries waters or the NAFO Regulatory Area, be stopped and moved to another location and may detain it for a reasonable time. The person in charge of the vehicle shall comply with the directions.

Marginal note:Warrant to enter dwelling place

• 7.4 (1) If a place is a dwelling place, a protection officer may enter it without the occupant’s consent only under the authority of a warrant issued under subsection (2).

• Marginal note:Authority to issue warrant

  (2) On ex parte application, a justice of the peace may issue a warrant authorizing a protection officer to enter a dwelling place, subject to any conditions specified in the warrant, and authorizing any other person named in the warrant to accompany the protection officer, if the justice is satisfied by information on oath that

  • (a) the dwelling place is a place referred to in section 7.1;

  • (b) entry to the dwelling place is necessary to verify compliance with this Act; and

  • (c) entry was refused by the occupant or there are reasonable grounds to believe that entry will be refused by, or that consent to entry cannot be obtained from, the occupant.

Marginal note:Enforcement on high seas for unauthorized fishing in Canadian fisheries waters

• 7.5 (1) If a protection officer has reasonable grounds to believe that a fishing vessel of a state party to the Fish Stocks Agreement or of a state that is party to a treaty or arrangement described in paragraph 6(f) has engaged in unauthorized fishing in Canadian fisheries waters and the vessel is in an area of the sea designated under subparagraph 6(e)(ii) or (f)(ii), the officer may, with the consent of that state, take any enforcement action that is consistent with this Act.

• Marginal note:Powers not affected in case of pursuit

  (2) Subsection (1) does not affect any powers the protection officer has in the case of a pursuit that began while the vessel was in Canadian fisheries waters.

Marginal note:Search

• 7.6 (1) A justice, as defined in section 2 of the Criminal Code, who on ex parte application is satisfied by information on oath that there are reasonable grounds to believe that there is in a place any fish, marine plant or other thing that was obtained by or used in, or that will afford evidence in respect of, a contravention of this Act, may issue a warrant authorizing the protection officer named in the warrant to enter and search the place for the fish, marine plant or other thing, subject to any conditions specified in the warrant.

• Marginal note:Search without warrant

  (2) A protection officer may exercise the powers referred to in subsection (1) without a warrant if the conditions for obtaining a warrant exist but, by reason of exigent circumstances, it would not be practical to obtain a warrant.

• Marginal note:Search — fishing vessels ordered to port by flag state

  (3) A justice, as defined in section 2 of the Criminal Code, on ex parte application by a protection officer, may issue a warrant authorizing the protection officer named in the warrant to board a foreign fishing vessel that was authorized to enter Canadian fisheries waters under subparagraph 6(a)(iii) and search the vessel, or to enter any other place and search the other place, for any fish, marine plant or other thing, subject to any conditions specified in the warrant, if the justice is satisfied by information on oath that

  • (a) there are reasonable grounds to believe that there is in the vessel any fish, marine plant or other thing that was obtained by or used in, or that will afford evidence in respect of, a contravention of a law related to fisheries of a foreign state, any conservation or management measures of a fisheries management organization or an international fisheries treaty or arrangement to which Canada is party, including any conservation, management or enforcement measures taken under the treaty or arrangement, or there is in the other place any such fish, marine plant or other thing and that fish, marine plant or other thing is from the vessel; and

  • (b) the vessel’s flag state does not object to the search of the vessel.

• Marginal note:Presumption

  (4) The foreign fishing vessel’s flag state is deemed to not object to the search if the protection officer has informed the flag state of his or her intention to apply for the warrant referred to in subsection (3) and the flag state has not communicated its objection within the period prescribed by regulation.