The Transportation Safety Board has released its report into the sinking of the Sarah Anne in May 2020, and one of the things it highlights is issues with vessels not being registered with Transport Canada.

The report, tabled yesterday, found that over 4,000 more vessels are licensed with DFO than with Transport Canada.

A license with Transport Canada is required under legislation as it allows the regulator to provide safety oversight and guidance.

The report makes one recommendation: That all vessels be registered with Transport Canada before getting a license from DFO.

Kathy Fox, Chair of the TSB, wouldn’t speculate whether that would have prevented the accident, however, she does say the issue has been well known for many years.

She says some regions of the country, the Pacific for example, won’t issue a fishing license until there’s proof of registration with Transport Canada. However, that’s not how things have been working in this province. She calls the recommendation a push to get the government departments to collaborate and fix the issue.

Meanwhile, maritime safety advocate and SEA-NL member Merv Wiseman says he is not satisfied “by a long shot” with the TSB’s report.

He says there is nothing new in the report, and it just rehashes recommendations that have been there for years and questions and issues that have been out there for decades.