Commercial fishers in Ontario may soon be able to access more services online as part of what the province says is an effort to modernize licensing and reporting systems.
A news release from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry said developing this new process will allow for faster license renewals and easier harvest reporting. It said the fishing industry has expressed a desire to move to an “interactive online system.”
The government is now working with commercial fishermen to decide which services could be moved online.
“We are listening to the industry and working with them to modernize processes to make doing business easier and more efficient,” Graydon Smith, minister of natural resources and forestry, said in the release.
“By making these changes we are supporting Ontario’s commercial fishing industry, which contributes more than $200 million to Ontario’s economy each year.”
The release said the government wants to make it easier for the commercial fishing industry to interact with officials in the ministry “while enhancing the sustainable management of fisheries” into the future.
“Modernization of the licensing and reporting system is a big move forward for the industry,” Jane Graham, executive director of the Blenheim-based Ontario Commercial Fisheries’ Association, said in the release
“It will provide significant benefits by streamlining the process of renewing annual commercial fishing licenses, making the process less cumbersome. This will ensure information is more readily available to both industry and government.”
According to the ministry, there are more than 600 active commercial fishing licenses in Ontario. On average, between 2016 and 2020, commercial fishers harvested more than 22 million pounds of fish annually.