Leasing a Fishing Licence vs Buying One

Leasing a licence — fishing someone else’s for a season or several, in exchange for a negotiated cut — is a common way to run a boat without owning the licence, especially without the capital or family connections to buy in outright. Here’s how leasing and buying actually compare.

What leasing a licence looks like in practice

In a typical leasing arrangement, a licence holder who can no longer fish actively — often due to age, health, or holding more licence than they can personally work — lets another captain fish it for an agreed share of that season’s earnings, sometimes alongside a flat fee. The leasing captain runs the boat, manages the crew, and makes the day-to-day fishing decisions, while the licence holder retains legal ownership and, depending on DFO’s owner-operator rules for that fishery, may need to remain formally involved in ways that satisfy licensing requirements. See our buying a licence guide for how those owner-operator rules generally work.

Leasing arrangements are typically private and informal by comparison to a licence sale — terms, the size of the cut taken by the licence holder, and the length of the arrangement are all negotiated directly between the two parties, and there’s no standard published rate. That flexibility cuts both ways: it can be a genuinely fair partnership between an aging owner and a trusted younger captain, or it can be a lopsided deal for a leasing captain with less negotiating leverage.

The financial trade-off

The core trade-off is straightforward:

• Buying requires a very large upfront cost — commonly discussed in the millions of dollars for an established Southwest Nova operation once boat, gear, and trap allocation are included (estimate; confirm current figures with a licence broker or DFO’s licensing office) — but the buyer builds equity in an asset that can be sold, passed on, or leased out themselves later.
• Leasing avoids that upfront cost entirely, letting a captain start earning from a boat’s catch immediately, but every season’s earnings are reduced by whatever cut goes to the licence holder, and the leasing captain builds no ownership stake over time. A leasing captain who fishes for years under the same arrangement may ultimately have paid out, in cumulative lease payments, a meaningful fraction of what buying outright would have cost — without ever owning anything at the end of it.

For someone without family access to a boat, leasing is often the only realistic way to run a boat before having the capital to buy — see our path from sternman to captain guide for how leasing typically fits into that career progression.

Risk sits differently in each arrangement

Ownership concentrates risk with the buyer: a bad season, a bad catch year, or a big unplanned repair bill falls entirely on the person who financed the purchase. Leasing spreads that risk differently — a leasing captain typically isn’t on the hook for the licence’s purchase financing, but still absorbs the operating risk of the season (fuel, bait, crew pay, boat maintenance) the same as an owner would, on top of the negotiated cut owed to the licence holder. In a genuinely bad season, a leasing captain can end up worse off in relative terms than an owner who at least holds an appreciating asset through the downturn.

Anyone considering either path should get real numbers from people already doing it in their specific area — a broker, an accountant familiar with fisheries financing, or an experienced captain — rather than assuming national or even provincial averages apply. Licence values and typical lease terms differ meaningfully between Southwest Nova, PEI, the Gulf, Newfoundland, and BC’s Dungeness fishery.

Which path makes more sense

There’s no universally right answer — it depends on capital, risk tolerance, and how long someone plans to stay in the fishery. Someone testing whether captaining is right for them, or without the capital or credit to finance a purchase, often leases first. Someone planning a decades-long career, with access to financing or a family connection to an existing licence, usually aims to buy as soon as it’s realistic. See our pay guide for how a captain’s earnings compare to a deckhand’s share in either arrangement, and our crews guide for the deck-level roles that typically come before either path is even an option.

FAQ

Is leasing a fishing licence common? Yes — it’s a well-established practice, particularly for licence holders who can no longer fish actively themselves and want to keep the licence earning without selling it outright. Terms are privately negotiated and vary widely.

Does leasing eventually cost more than buying? It can, if a captain leases for many years under the same arrangement — cumulative lease payments over a long career can add up to a substantial sum without the leasing captain ever building ownership equity. Whether that trade-off is worth it depends on access to purchase financing and how long someone plans to stay in the fishery.

Who is legally allowed to lease out a licence? It depends on DFO’s owner-operator and fleet separation rules for that specific fishery and area, which are meant to keep licences tied to active, independent fishers rather than passive investors. Confirm current requirements with DFO’s licensing office before entering into any leasing arrangement.