As the year draws to a close, we’re taking a moment to look back at what changed for harvesters and for Vericatch during the first year of ELOG mandates—and to look ahead at what comes next.

Supporting the First Year of National ELOG Mandates

2025 was the first year DFO mandated national ELOGs for Lobster and Crab fisheries across the Gulf, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador regions. For many harvesters, this meant they had to move from paper logbooks, which have been used for decades, to electronic catch reporting.

To support this transition, we hosted almost 150 in-person training meetings in more than 70 fishing communities, ran live webinars, and expanded our support resources. We also worked directly with associations and groups to ensure their members had everything they needed to get started with ELOGs.

Our Fall 2025 ELOG User Survey offered valuable insight into how the season went from our users’ perspective:

“I’ve used ELOGs since before they were mandatory… the software makes life easier.”

“Saved time. No bother with paper logbooks… very easy to use when it was set up.”

Throughout the rollout, we remained committed to what makes Vericatch different: we are Canada’s only independent ELOG provider. We only ask for the data DFO requires—nothing more—and our in-house development team is dedicated entirely to ELOGs and fisheries technology.

As our CEO, Julian Hawkins, puts it:

“This season made it clear that electronic reporting is no longer theoretical—it’s something harvesters across generations are using every day. Our focus has been on supporting them through that transition and working with DFO to keep streamlining our software. I’m proud of how our team showed up in community halls, at wharfs, and around kitchen tables to help harvesters keep fishing with our ELOGs.”

Why ELOGs Matter

ELOGs are reshaping how data moves through the fishery.

For harvesters, the benefits are immediate:

As one harvester noted:

“No paper pages to send to DFO. A lot of fields are autofilled or only have to be entered once.”

For DFO, ELOGs deliver more complete data much faster, without the delays and inconsistencies of manually entering paper logbook data. That supports more timely, evidence-based decisions.

For the seafood sector, ELOGs strengthen traceability and help meet export requirements, including FSMA 204, by providing vessel-level digital records.

What We Learned in 2025

This first year of national mandates brought a clear learning curve and also clear progress.

Our survey confirmed what we saw on the ground: most harvesters find ELOGs save time and effort once they’re set up, but the initial onboarding can be a bit of a hurdle.

Harvester comments reflected this:

“Easy to use after the first time…”

“Convenient and easy once we got over the initial hiccups.”

Cameron Smith, VP of Development, shared:

“This year was really about smoothing out the rough edges—improving onboarding, strengthening autofill, adding PDF reports, and more. Many updates came directly from harvester feedback. In 2026, we’ll continue using that input to make ELOGs as intuitive and straightforward as possible, and we’ll add additional experimental features that we hope will provide useful information about your fishing efficiency.  We look forward to your continued feedback to make these features as effective as possible.”

Harvesters also told us our training sessions were helpful and that they want refresher sessions before the next season.

Robert Keenan, Sales Director, saw this firsthand:

“The clearest message we’ve heard at the wharf is that harvesters want someone they can talk to face-to-face. When we walk through the app together and stay until every question is answered, you can see people’s confidence grow. We’re not just offering software—we’re building trust that their reporting will be accepted and that they can focus on fishing.”

Looking Ahead to 2026

If 2025 was the first wave of ELOG adoption, 2026 will be about building on that foundation. Once DFO confirms which fisheries and species will be mandated next, we’ll begin planning:

Our goal for year two of ELOGs is that they feel less like learning a system and more like simply doing your logbook.

Julian summarises:

“In 2026, our focus is on making the system even more straightforward and reliable.”

And Robert adds:

“Harvesters have been asking when other fisheries can start using ELOGs, and that tells me adoption is moving in the right direction. I’m looking forward to returning to communities we visited this year—and visiting new ones—as mandates expand.”

Thank You


Thank you to everyone who switched from paper to ELOGs, attended a training session, completed our survey, reached out for help, or shared honest feedback. Your insight helped shape our work in 2025 and will guide our work in 2026.

We look forward to seeing you on the wharf, online, and in your community in the year ahead.