Vericatch Hosts Workshop on Electronic Logbooks for Fishers

Mark Hippern, Senior Manager of Business Development at Vericatch, led a workshop on January 23 at the Petit de Grat Campus of l’Université Sainte-Anne, guiding fishers through the transition to electronic logbooks (ELOGS).

Before the session, he spoke with Civic Journalist Jake Boudrot about the new requirements.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) now mandates the use of ELOGS for crab and lobster fisheries, replacing traditional paper logbooks. According to Vericatch, this shift will streamline data entry for harvesters and enable faster data delivery to resource managers, leading to better-informed decision-making and improved fishery management.

The workshop provided fishers with hands-on training, personalized ELOG setup support, and answers to common questions ahead of the upcoming fishing season.

In a December 5 press release, Vericatch announced that mandatory ELOGS will be phased into select fisheries across the Maritimes and Newfoundland and Labrador this spring, with full adoption continuing into 2025 and 2026.

Vericatch offers Canada’s only nationally certified ELOG app, covering not just lobster and crab but also groundfish (redfish, cod, turbot, and halibut), small pelagics (mackerel, herring, alewife, capelin, and smelts), whelk, bivalve mollusks, squid, salmon, and soon, shrimp.

With 2024 marking the final year for paper logbooks in many crab and lobster fisheries, Vericatch urges harvesters to make the switch now. Early adoption can help avoid complications during the busy fishing season—and at just $60 per year, ELOGS offer a streamlined approach to catch reporting while giving harvesters a competitive edge.