Fisheries Department issuing licences in N.L. without checking boat registration: TSB
An investigation into a fatal 2020 fishing accident in Newfoundland has prompted the Transportation Safety Board to call on the federal Fisheries Department to change the way it issues fishing licences.
The board is asking the department to ensure all Canadian commercial fishing vessels are registered with Transport Canada before issuing fishing licences.
Safety board chair Kathy Fox said Wednesday that an investigation into the sinking of a crab fishing boat that killed four men revealed that more than 4,000 fishing vessels in Newfoundland and Labrador were registered with the Fisheries Department but not with Transport Canada.
"Issuing a licence may give fish harvesters the impression that they've satisfied all government requirements," Fox told reporters in St. John's, N.L.
But registration with Transport Canada is also required, she said, and it allows the regulatory body to provide safety guidance to boat owners and up-to-date information to rescue organizations if something goes wrong.
She noted that fishers in British Columbia can't get a licence unless they can prove they're registered with Transport Canada.
Fox was in St. John's to present the findings of the safety board's investigation into the sinking of the Sarah Anne, which went down in Newfoundland's Placentia Bay on May 25, 2020, and was never recovered. The bodies of its four crew members -- Ed Norman, Scott Norman, Jody Norman and Isaac Kettle -- were recovered in the following days.
The boat left the town of St. Lawrence on Newfoundland's Burin Peninsula just after midnight, and it was 7:45 p.m. when authorities were first told it hadn't returned home, said Clifford Harvey, the board's director of marine investigations. Investigators concluded it likely capsized suddenly, throwing the crew into the water before they could put on life-jackets or immersion suits or make a distress call, he said.
"Sarah Anne's voyage was not actively being monitored," Harvey told reporters. "The absence of active monitoring, coupled with lack of distress signal, resulted in a delay of several hours in the search and rescue response, severely reducing the crew's chance of survival."
The boat did not have safety locator beacons on board, nor was it properly registered with Transport Canada, Harvey said. As a result, the federal body did not have current information about the boat's name or owner. The vessel also didn't have a formal stability assessment, and investigators concluded it was operating in conditions beyond its limits, he added.
Fox pointed to a 2012 safety board report outlining measures harvesters can take to be safer at sea, such as wearing life-jackets and making sure their boats have proper safety equipment on board.
"Every year, the same deficiencies in the commercial fishing industry continue to put the lives of thousands of Canadian fish harvesters at risk," Fox said. "And here we are, 10 years later, talking about many of the same issues."
She acknowledged there is no way to tell if the Sarah Anne's fate would have been different if it had been registered with Transport Canada.
The federal Fisheries Department has 90 days to respond to the safety board's recommendation that it check for registration before issuing a fishing licence.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 18, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING NEWS Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Metro Vancouver mayors call for serial killer Robert Pickton to be denied parole
A dozen mayors from around Metro Vancouver say federal Attorney General and Justice Minister Arif Virani should deny parole for notorious B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton, and reassess the parole and sentencing system for 'prolific offenders and mass murderers.'