Moncton, New Brunswick (NB) – April 24, 2025 – Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Gulf Region wishes to remind that, as announced on October 17, 2024, the use of electronic logbooks (ELOGs) is mandatory in 2025 for lobster and snow crab harvesters in the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence.
As indicated in licence conditions, licence holders/operators must maintain an accurate record of their daily fishing activities and catches in their ELOG for each fishing trip and must ensure that the data groups are completed and the trip closed (with confirmation that the data groups are final) PRIOR to arriving to port, even if the catch is zero.
While recording fishing data in the ELOG, Gulf Region harvesters must ensure that all the mandatory sections are completed, including the following:
- Vessel Registration Number (VRN) and Fisher Identification Number (FIN) - ensure that these numbers are attached to the licence number used in the Fishing Effort section.
- Bait Used section
- Species at Risk section
- Fishing Effort and Effort Details sections - ensure that these sections include the licence number in the correct format (6-digit number with leading 0s if required)
- Catch section - even if no catch
- Landing section - each daily ELOG must have only one completed Landing section
- Personal Consumption/Use section (for lobster harvesters only)
- Hail-in and Hail-out sections (for snow crab harvesters only)
For any additional questions regarding the National ELOG program, please contact DFO at 1-877-535-7307 or at the following email: fishing-peche@dfo-mpo.gc.ca.