C-237An Act to amend the Fisheries Act (Atlantic groundfish fisheries)
Private member's bill, introduced in the House of Commons on September 22, 2025
- Status
- Defeated at second reading in the House of Commons
What it does
Changes the Fisheries Act for Atlantic groundfish, including harmonised recreational close times, more reporting, and a new catch monitoring system.
What it does
- Requires regulations to harmonise close times across Atlantic provinces for recreational groundfish fishing, and says those close times can be set only for a species’ spawning period.
- Requires close times and fishing quotas fixed or changed by certain orders or regulations to be posted on the Department of Fisheries and Oceans website at least two months before they take effect.
- Requires the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to table an annual report on the administration and enforcement of the Fisheries Act.
- Adds a reporting rule that can require each person to record the number of fish caught each day and the total caught during an open season.
- Requires the minister to develop, within one year, a monitoring system that records, by species, how many fish are caught, when they are caught, and where they are caught.
- Requires the minister, when building the monitoring system, to look at existing models, consider using fees and penalties to cover costs, and identify ways to encourage timely reporting, including lower fees.
Who it affects
- Recreational groundfish fishers
- Atlantic fishers
- Fisheries and Oceans Canada
- Minister of Fisheries and Oceans
- People required to keep catch records
Background
The bill amends the Fisheries Act. It focuses on management of Atlantic groundfish fisheries and recreational fishing close times across Atlantic provinces.
Where it is
House of Commons
First reading
Completed.
Second reading
Defeated here. Defeated
Committee
Not reached.
Report stage
Not reached.
Third reading
Not reached.
Senate
First reading
Not reached.
Second reading
Not reached.
Committee
Not reached.
Third reading
Not reached.
Royal assent
Royal assent
Not reached.
Introduced by an MP who is not a minister. These bills compete in a lottery for debate time, and most do not become law. How a bill becomes law
How the House voted
2nd reading of Bill C-237, An Act to amend the Fisheries Act (Atlantic groundfish fisheries)
Vote 74,
Failed
134 yeato197 nay
Party breakdown for vote 74 Party Position Yea Nay Did not vote Liberal Nay 0 168 1 Conservative Yea 133 0 8 Bloc Nay 0 22 0 NDP Nay 0 7 0 Green Yea 1 0 0 Total 134 197
What MPs said
Each party’s first speech on this bill in the House, from Hansard. Excerpts are the speaker’s opening sentences, unedited.
LiberalPhilip Earle· November 5, 2025
“I rise today to speak to private member’s bill, Bill C-237, an act that would amend the Fisheries Act. As a Labradorian, I know how important the fishery is to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, Atlantic Canada and Quebec, not just for the livelihoods of harvesters and workers in our province, but also for our economy.”
Read the full speech on openparliament.caConservativeJonathan Rowe· November 5, 2025
“That is why I am here today with Bill C-237, the recreational food fishery equality bill. This bill does not have a 40-fish limit, but it would do five crucial things.”
Read the full speech on openparliament.caBlocAlexis Deschênes· November 5, 2025
“This bill proposes to amend the Fisheries Act to, among other things, provide for the management of the Atlantic groundfish fisheries by harmonizing fishing periods in the Atlantic Ocean, where the recreational groundfish fishery takes place.”
Read the full speech on openparliament.ca
Read the source
LEGISinfo status: Bill defeated. Bill data from LEGISinfo, votes from openparliament.ca and the House of Commons. Last updated October 13, 2026.