Within the license conditions of each fishing permit, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) requires fish harvesters to keep records of their fish catch and effort and submit the data to DFO. The fisherman’s electronic logbook (ELog) is designed to replace hard copy paper logbooks and fulfill all catch reporting and license requirements while also eliminating the associated manual data entry upon submission. Modeled after the paper logbooks being used in the commercial fleet, the ELog program uses a simple, user-friendly interface for fishermen to use on-board their vessels while out fishing.

M.C. Wright designed and developed the Electronic Logbook program for the Pacific Region of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Our software saves time by streamlining the catch reporting process, rather than manually add up and enter data, the software allows harvesters to enter data as they catch, tally the results for them and submit the data when back in range of internet access.

ELog is also more cost effective than paper logbooks in that a harvester installs the core Elog software and then only has to purchase modules tailored for the specific fishery they are pursuing (e.g. Pacific Salmon Seine).