Fishing Families: Generations on the Same Boat

Commercial fishing runs in families more than most industries — not just tradition, but because licences are tied to an individual holder, not freely traded, and inheriting or buying into a family operation is the most common way to become an owner-operator. The pattern is strongest at the captain/licence-holder level, less so among deckhands.

Why fishing tends to stay in the family

Commercial fishing licences in Canada are managed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada and, in most Atlantic fisheries, tied to an individual licence holder rather than freely tradeable on an open market the way some other business assets are (Fisheries and Oceans Canada, “Commercial fisheries licences and permits,” accessed 2026-09-07). That structure, combined with the high cost of an established licence and boat, means the most common way someone enters as an owner-operator is inheriting or buying into a family operation rather than starting one from nothing. A Southwest Nova lobster licence with an established boat can be worth a substantial sum — often cited in the hundreds of thousands of dollars (estimate; confirm with a current licence broker or DFO for any specific area, since values vary a great deal by area and licence type) — which is a real barrier for anyone without family capital or a family licence to eventually take over.

That’s different from the deckhand side of the business, where plenty of crew come in with no family connection at all — see our crews hub for how that entry point actually works. The family pattern is strongest at the captain/licence-holder level, less so among deckhands.

What it looks like day to day

In a lot of Maritime and Newfoundland fishing communities, a captain’s mate or senior deckhand is literally their son, daughter, nephew, or another close relative, learning the boat, the grounds, and the business side of running a licence with the expectation of eventually taking it over. Younger family members often start as a bait boy or junior deckhand in their early teens or high school years during summer break, the same entry point as anyone else, but with a much clearer long-term path than a crew member with no family tie to the operation.

This generational pattern also shapes wharf culture more broadly — multiple captains on the same wharf are often related to each other by blood or marriage, which means local knowledge about grounds, gear, and even shore prices tends to circulate inside family and community networks first. New crew without family ties often say the biggest early hurdle isn’t the physical work, it’s being trusted enough to hear that information.

What counts as a commercial fishery, and who actually fishes it

A commercial fishery is one where the catch is landed for sale rather than personal or recreational use. DFO manages and regulates commercial fisheries under the Fisheries Act through a licensing system, and holding a commercial fishing licence comes with real conditions attached — accurate catch reporting is mandatory, often through electronic or paper logbooks, along with things like dockside monitoring or vessel tracking depending on the fishery (Fisheries and Oceans Canada, “Commercial Fishery Requirements,” accessed 2026-09-11). Most established fisheries are also “limited access”: DFO issues a capped number of licences for a given species and area, rather than letting anyone who wants one buy in, which is part of why an existing licence carries so much value (Fisheries and Oceans Canada Maritimes, “Commercial Fisheries,” accessed 2026-09-11).

The family-boat picture above is the reality for most of the owner-operator side of the industry, but it isn’t the whole industry. Some of the largest seafood companies in Canada are sizeable corporations, not single family boats, even when “family” is part of their own branding:

• Cooke Inc., founded in 1985 by the Cooke family in Blacks Harbour, New Brunswick, describes itself on its own site as “the largest private family-owned seafood company in the world,” reporting roughly 13,000 employees across operations in 14 countries (Cooke Inc., “About Cooke,” accessed 2026-09-11). It’s still family-controlled at the ownership level, but it’s a multinational aquaculture and wild-fishery company, not a single boat.
• Clearwater Seafoods, founded in Nova Scotia in 1976, describes itself as “one of North America’s largest vertically-integrated seafood companies.” Since 2021 it has been Indigenous-owned, through a partnership between Premium Brands and a coalition of seven Mi’kmaq communities across Nova Scotia and Newfoundland (Clearwater Seafoods, “About Us,” accessed 2026-09-11).
• Ocean Choice International, headquartered in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, describes itself as “a fully vertically integrated company” and “one of the leaders in the Canadian fishing industry,” reporting sales of over 100 million pounds of product to more than 30 countries a year (Ocean Choice International, “About OCI,” accessed 2026-09-11).

Those are each company’s own description of itself, not an independent ranking, and this page doesn’t attempt to rank them against each other — the point is simply that “commercial fishery” covers everything from a two-person family boat to a multinational processor and exporter, and both ends of that range are part of the same regulated industry.

What it means if you don’t have a family boat

None of this means an outsider can’t get into fishing — it means the realistic path in for most non-family entrants is the deckhand route, building a reputation over one or more seasons, and potentially working toward leasing or eventually buying into a licence later rather than inheriting one. See our pay hub for how deckhand shares typically work while you’re building that experience, and our seasons hub for the different fisheries and areas where crew spots open up each year.

FAQ

Do you need family connections to become a fishing captain? Not strictly, but it helps enormously — licences are expensive and, in most Atlantic fisheries, tied to an individual rather than freely traded, so inheriting or buying into a family operation is the most common path to becoming an owner-operator. Deckhand roles are much more open to newcomers.

Why are fishing licences often kept within a family? Licences represent a large financial asset, often worth a substantial sum for an established lobster operation (estimate; confirm with a current licence broker or DFO for a specific area), and Canada’s licensing system in most Atlantic fisheries doesn’t function like an open market for that asset the way some other business assets do, which favours transfer within a family or a trusted buyer over open sale.

Can someone with no fishing family background still build a career in the industry? Yes — most deckhands don’t come from fishing families. The realistic path is starting as crew, building experience and a reputation with a captain over one or more seasons, and later exploring leasing or licence ownership if that’s the long-term goal.

What is a commercial fishery? It’s fishing done under a DFO commercial licence for the purpose of selling the catch, as distinct from recreational fishing. Holding that licence comes with legal conditions — mandatory catch reporting and, in many fisheries, monitoring requirements — and in most established fisheries the number of licences is capped, which is part of why an existing licence is worth so much.

What is the biggest fishing company in Canada? There’s no single independently verified ranking this page can point to, but three large Canadian seafood companies are commonly named: Cooke Inc. (based in Blacks Harbour, NB, which describes itself as the largest private family-owned seafood company in the world, with roughly 13,000 employees globally), Clearwater Seafoods (Nova Scotia-based and Indigenous-owned since 2021), and Ocean Choice International (headquartered in St. John’s, NL). Each makes its own claims about scale on its own site — see the sourced descriptions above rather than treating any one as an official “biggest.”