Pacific high‑seas boarding and inspection powers

Summary#

These final amendments to the Coastal Fisheries Protection Regulations give Canadian protection officers clear domestic authority to board and inspect foreign fishing vessels on the high seas in two Pacific treaty areas. The changes came into force on June 17, 2021 and were published in the Canada Gazette on July 7, 2021.

What it does#

• Defines the high-seas zones for two regional bodies: the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) Regulatory Area and the North Pacific Fisheries Commission (NPFC) Convention Area, and adds those geographic descriptions to the Regulations.
• Lets Fisheries and Oceans Canada protection officers act as inspectors under the WCPFC and NPFC boarding-and-inspection rules. That includes boarding and inspecting:
  • foreign vessels from commission members;
  • foreign vessels authorized under a specific arrangement allowed by the commission measures; or
  • other foreign vessels if the vessel’s master agrees.
• Makes it illegal in Canadian law for states that are party to the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement—but not party to the WCPFC/NPFC conventions—to fish for stocks managed by those commissions in these high-seas areas, unless they are fishing under an expressly allowed arrangement.
• Updates wording elsewhere in the Regulations (including the NAFO-related definition) and removes a now-unneeded provision tied to an older boarding regime.
• Adds the detailed coordinates and boundary descriptions for the two Pacific high-seas areas into Schedule 2 of the Regulations.

Who's affected#

• Fisheries and Oceans Canada protection officers — they can now carry out full boarding and inspection duties in these Pacific high-seas areas.
• Foreign fishing vessels operating on the high seas inside the WCPFC and NPFC areas — they may be boarded and inspected by Canadian inspectors under the commissions’ rules.
• Enforcement partners and navies (for example, the Department of National Defence and the United States) — Canada can more fully join joint patrols and inspections.
• Canadian fishers and fishing businesses — the government says there is minimal direct impact on them; few Canadian vessels operate in these areas and the amendments do not change existing domestic inspection rules for Canadian vessels.
• Coastal communities and conservation interests concerned about bycatch and practices like shark finning and salmon bycatch — they are indirect beneficiaries of stronger enforcement.

Why it matters#

• It lets Canada move from an observer role to an active enforcement role in large parts of the Pacific high seas. That improves Canada’s ability to detect and deter illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
• Stronger enforcement can help protect species of concern that travel across oceans, such as Pacific salmon and tuna, and address practices like shark finning that have been observed in these areas.
• The WCPFC Convention Area covers about 20% of the Earth’s surface, so these rules cover very large ocean areas where many nations fish.
• The change enables closer cooperation with other countries already patrolling these areas, potentially improving the efficiency and effectiveness of regional enforcement with little extra cost to fishers.