Preamble

Whereas the wild life, fish, and game of Newfoundland and Labrador are part of the natural inheritance of the people of the Republic;

Whereas responsible hunting, fishing, trapping, snaring, and gathering for food are longstanding parts of Newfoundland life, family provision, Indigenous practice, coastal culture, and rural self-reliance;

Whereas conservation exists to keep fish and game available for present and future generations, not to separate the people from their own country;

Therefore this Act recognises the right of citizens and lawful residents to harvest fish and game for food, subject to reasonable conservation limits and duties of care.

Administered by the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries under the Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Resources.

Part I — Right of Food Harvest

1. Common resource. Fish and game are held for the benefit, use, and stewardship of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.
2. Food harvest protected. A citizen or lawful resident may hunt, fish, trap, snare, take, and possess fish or game needed for personal, household, family, or community food use, subject to this Act and conservation regulations.
3. Presumption of lawful need. A person harvesting for food shall be presumed to be acting for lawful subsistence, household, recreational, or cultural purposes unless there is evidence of waste, unlawful sale, commercial dealing, or serious conservation harm.
4. Ordinary practice respected. Hunting and fishing for household food, recreational practice, family tradition, and rural self-reliance are lawful and socially valued activities.
5. No criminalisation of feeding a household. Regulations shall not be interpreted to penalize a person merely for obtaining food for themselves, their family, elders, dependants, or persons in genuine need.
6. Local big-game access. Moose and caribou management shall favour practical food-harvest access for residents in the communities and regions where they live, subject to conservation of the local herd.

Part II — Seasons, Limits, and Conservation

1. Reasonable limits. The Minister may establish reasonable seasons, areas, bag limits, possession limits, size limits, gear rules, and conservation closures where needed to preserve stocks, breeding populations, habitat, or public safety.
2. Food-first administration. Limits shall be designed to preserve the public’s ability to harvest food over time, not to turn ordinary citizens into offenders for honest food gathering.
3. Emergency conservation closures. A temporary closure may be made where a species, stock, or area faces urgent conservation risk, but the closure must be published, time-limited, evidence-based, and reviewed promptly.
4. Humane and suitable methods. Regulations may require humane methods, suitable gear, and cartridges of sufficient calibre for hunting particular game. Those requirements belong in hunting regulations.
5. Snaring allowed. Snaring is a lawful method of taking small game and other species permitted by regulation. A set snare must be checked at least once every 24 hours.
6. No waste. A person who takes fish or game shall make reasonable use of edible meat or fish and shall not wantonly waste a harvest fit for food.

Part III — Sale and Commercial Dealing

1. No private sale of game meat or food fish. An individual shall not sell game meat or fish taken under personal, household, recreational, or food-harvest authority.
2. Sharing allowed. A person may share, gift, divide, or prepare lawfully harvested fish or game for family, neighbours, elders, community events, persons in need, or persons unable to harvest for themselves, provided there is no sale or disguised commercial dealing.
3. Commercial fisheries preserved. Commercial fishing, aquaculture, processing, and sale are governed by separate commercial fisheries law, licence, quota, and inspection systems.
4. No barter as disguised sale. Barter, exchange, or repeated transfer for material reward may be treated as sale where it is used to evade this Part.

Part IV — Harvesting for Others

1. Assistance permitted. A person may hunt, fish, take, clean, transport, or prepare fish or game for another person who is unable to do so because of age, disability, illness, injury, infirmity, remoteness, or another genuine physical reason.
2. Household and community support. Assistance may be provided for elders, disabled persons, injured persons, households without an able harvester, and community members in genuine need.
3. No sale through assistance. Assistance under this Part shall not be used to sell game meat or food fish, operate an unlicensed commercial service, or evade conservation limits.
4. Reasonable proof. Where enforcement officers have specific evidence of commercial dealing or abuse, they may ask for a reasonable explanation of the assisted harvest, but no person shall be penalized for informal family or neighbourly assistance given in good faith.

Part V — Access, Safety, and Local Practice

1. Public access valued. The Republic shall protect reasonable public access to traditional hunting and fishing areas, subject to private property, conservation closures, public safety, and Indigenous rights.
2. Safe conduct. Hunting and fishing shall be carried out with proper caution, care for other persons, respect for property, and attention to weather, water, firearm, and boating safety.
3. Local knowledge. Management should respect local knowledge of runs, herds, migration, ice, waters, seasons, and customary use.
4. Indigenous rights. Nothing in this Act abrogates or diminishes Indigenous rights, treaty rights, land-claims rights, or culturally protected harvest practices recognised by the Constitution or laws of the Republic.

Part VI — Stewardship and Management

1. Stewardship duty. Citizens, residents, harvesters, and the state share responsibility to maintain fish and game populations for future generations.
2. Evidence-based management. The Minister shall consider science, local knowledge, Indigenous knowledge, harvest reports, habitat conditions, and food security when setting regulations.
3. Habitat protection. Regulations may protect spawning grounds, calving areas, nesting areas, migration routes, wetlands, rivers, streams, and sensitive habitat where needed for future harvest.
4. Public explanation. Major limits or closures should be accompanied by plain-language reasons explaining the conservation need and expected review period.

Part VII — Penalties and Guardrails

1. Penalty guardrail. No person shall be penalized for honest food harvest, ordinary possession, family sharing, neighbourly assistance, or technical mistake unless joined to intentional waste, unlawful sale, commercial dealing, fraud, dangerous conduct, or knowing breach of a conservation closure.
2. Unlawful sale. Selling game meat or fish taken under personal food-harvest authority is an offence.
3. Commercial poaching. Repeated or organised taking of fish or game for unlawful sale is a serious offence.
4. Waste. Wanton waste of edible fish or game fit for food is an offence.
5. Fraud. Knowingly false statements, forged authorisations, or fraudulent records used to evade conservation limits or commercial rules are offences. Honest mistake is not an offence.
6. Dangerous conduct. Reckless hunting, reckless discharge of a firearm, unsafe boating, or dangerous conduct that creates a real and unjustified risk to another person may be punished under this Act or other law.
7. Proportionate enforcement. Warnings, education, restoration, or civil measures should be preferred for minor first-time or technical breaches that do not involve sale, waste, fraud, danger, or conservation harm.

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