New Fishery Officers

This spring, nine new fishery officers are entering the field in eastern Quebec. You will surely see them surveying docks along with their colleagues. Recruited by Fisheries and Oceans Canada in November 2015, they spent the winter completing their training. They are now all set to protect the fisheries throughout the area.

Recruits have completed 18 weeks of intensive training under the Fishery Officer Career Progression Programme (FOCPP). Part of this training was provided by the of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police training centre in Regina, Saskatchewan: it equipped them with technical policing skills such as citations, investigations, legal proceedings and defensive tactics. The other part of the training covered knowledge on the field of fisheries, including species identification, fishing gear, regulations, management approaches and other concepts such as Marine Emergency Duties. This second part is given by Fisheries and Oceans Canada staff in the facilities of the École nationale de police du Québec, in Nicolet.

On March 3, 2016, the nine Quebec cadets officially received their fishery officer badge. These recruits will fill the void left by the departure of retired agents hired by the federal government over thirty years ago, when it had regained regulatory jurisdiction over Quebec fisheries.

Daniel Perron
Fisheries Management