Vericatch and Coldwater Lobster Association (CLA) have recently collaborated to assist fish harvesters with the rollout of ELOGS for the commercial lobster fishery in Southwestern Nova Scotia. This strategic partnership aligns with CLA’s commitment to projects and initiatives that support the commercial fishing industry.
This partnership comes at an opportune time following Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO) announcement that electronic logbook submissions would be accepted for Lobster Fishing Area 34 (LFA 34) as an alternative to the traditional paper logbooks for the 2023-24 lobster season for harvesters wishing to make the transition.
While ELOGS will not be mandated for most fisheries until 2024, in regions where DFO is already accepting ELOGS in place of paper, early adopters say that Vericatch’s ELOGS are ‘fishermen-friendly’ and take less time to complete than filling in paper logbooks.
“Coldwater Lobster Association is pleased to work with Vericatch to introduce ELOGS to Canada’s largest Lobster Fishing Area – LFA 34. Having ELOGS offered as an alternative to the traditional paper logbook with the added bonus of capturing fishing enterprise analytics that only the license holder can access is a much-needed business tool in this ever-changing fishery,” says Heather Mulock, Executive Director of the Coldwater Lobster Association.
Julian Hawkins, CEO of Vericatch, adds, “We are delighted to enter into a closer working relationship with Coldwater Lobster Association. It is a strategic step toward the rollout of ELOGS in the Maritimes and demonstrates our commitment to supporting the Canadian commercial fishing industry’s transition away from paper tracking towards the use of more real-time data to improve the fishing business and economics.”
Coldwater Lobster Association represents the interests and advocates on behalf of commercial lobster fishermen throughout LFA34 – one of Canada’s largest and most lucrative fishing areas located along Nova Scotia’s southwestern coast. CLA was founded in 2014 on the guiding principle of a forward-thinking approach to fisheries resource management through open and honest communication that fosters a climate of trust between fishermen and policy makers at all levels of government.
Vericatch is a Canadian-owned fishing technology company that specializes in the development of robust catch reporting and seafood traceability software. Founded by a team of fishermen and technologists, Vericatch is uniquely positioned as the only company nationally qualified by the DFO to provide ELOGs for Lobster, Crab, and Salmon and the only company offering an ELOG mobile app. Our ELOGs are designed to empower users so they can leverage the fishing data they collect to fish smarter and make more informed business decisions.
