What is a Weight Observer and what do they do?
Weight observers are employees of the OCFA. Their role is to ensure that weights of fish landed by commercial fishermen are true and accurate. They are appointed as “Observers” by the Director of the Fish and Wildlife branch of the Ministry of Natural Resources under Section 36.2 of the Ontario Fishery Regulations. Observers work at the fish processing plants and observe the daily catches being weighed and record these weights on the Daily Catch Reports (DCR’s). Any discrepancies with the weights or un-reported species are referred to the Ministry of Natural Resources for further investigation. This program has been in affect since 2002 on Lakes Erie, Huron, Ontario and the St. Lawrence River.
