When must a vessel owner register and pay assessments?

  In most instances a vessel owner does not have to register and pay assessments. Generally fish caught and landed at BC ports are sold to WorksafeBC registered commercial buyers who pay assessments based on the value of the catch or the labour component.

Any vessel owner that sells less than 100% of the total value of his catch to a commercial buyer in BC (i.e., a purchaser or recipient who determines the market value of the fish), must register with WorksafeBC and pay premiums on the value or labour component of the catch not sold to a commercial buyer in BC. 

Failure to register may result in the costs of an injury to a crew member being charged directly to the vessel owner.  These costs often add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Vessel owners must also register in these cases:

1. Direct sales/Custom processing: 
   If the vessel owner delivers or sells the catch to someone other than a commercial buyer in BC, the vessel owner must register. For example, when a vessel owner uses a custom processor and the custom processor does not buy the catch, the vessel owner must register and pay assessments on that portion of the catch.  In addition, if the fish is sold directly from the vessel to the public then the vessel owner must register.
2. Offshore Sales (foreign buyers): 
   If a vessel owner delivers or sells any part of a catch to a foreign buyer, then the owner must register and pay assessments on that portion of the catch.  Fish caught in BC and sold directly to an offshore buyer provides no protection to the vessel owner from being charged the full costs of a claim, unless the vessel owner has registered with WorkSafeBC.
3. Packers:
   A vessel owner who packs wild fish to a commercial buyer in BC does not need to register; however, if packing is done for the Fin Fish Farming industry or for foreign buyers not registered with WorksafeBC, then the vessel owner must register and pay assessments on that portion of the packing.