The licence renewal process for thousands of Canadian fishermen just got easier.
We moved to an online approach where the harvesters go through the Internet, said Stefan Leslie, regional director of fisheries management with Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
It used to be that a fisherman had to appear in person to renew documents in one of three area offices in Nova Scotia, located in Yarmouth, Dartmouth or Sydney.
But as of April 1, fishermen can renew a licence, pay their fees and download critical documents, including licences, with the click of a mouse.
That also includes fisher registration cards and vessel registration, said Leslie.
If there are other services that you require, such as setting up a partnership (or) vessel registration transfer (fishermen) can set up an appointment to come see a person to affect those transfers or conduct that business, he added.
The office isn’t closing. I know there have been various reports to that effect. This is a way to try to bring some efficiency, said Leslie.
Fishermen can do their online licensing 24 hours a day.
If they run into problems there’s a support system in place, he said.
The changes were planned some time ago.
Fishermen need a pass code to access the system.
We are sending out pass codes to allow harvesters to access the system and those have been going out. The first ones went out a couple of weeks ago and they continue to go out, Leslie said.
Crew members may also use the system. They need to renew and print registration cards, too.
And industry associations may access the new online system on behalf of members, he said.
There are certainly many thousands of pass codes that will go out.
A couple of counter staff in Yarmouth’s DFO office have been affected but no jobs were lost, said Leslie.
The area office currently employs about 30 staff.