PEI fishing boat business finances: a season is not a salary.

The short answer: the finances of a PEI fishing boat business work when the season’s settlement cheques are treated as a full year’s income, not as June’s bank balance. Set the year’s number before the traps go in. Move a share of every cheque into a separate account, and pay yourself the same draw from it every month. Then do the HST, the crew paperwork and the year’s books at haul-out, while the records are fresh.

When does the money actually come in?

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) sets the lobster season for each fishing area every year, and it can move the dates for weather, ice or harbour work. Here is 2026, from DFO’s own notices.

2026 dates from DFO Gulf Region notices for LFA 24, LFA 26A-1 and LFA 25. Area descriptions from DFO’s lobster fishing areas page. Dates change every year.

That is a year of lobster income, landed in about nine weeks. The provincial fisheries department’s preliminary statistics count 1,219 licensed lobster fishers on PEI in 2024, landing about 47 million pounds worth $358.4 million. The money just arrives all at once.

Why does a good season still leave a tight spring?

Because most of the costs come before the first cheque. Gear, bait, fuel, insurance, winter repairs and the first weeks of crew all land in March and April. Loan payments don’t stop for the off-season. And the household has been living on last year’s season since the fall.

A spring squeeze is not proof the operation is failing. It usually means last year’s money was spent as if it were this month’s. The fix is a plan made in the winter, not a bigger line of credit in April.

How do I turn a season into a monthly paycheque?

Start with the year, not the season. Before the opening, write down twelve months of what has to be paid:

• Your household draw, the amount you actually live on each month.
• Every loan payment for the full year, on the boat, the licence and the gear.
• Insurance, licence fees, wharf costs, and the winter repair list.
• Next spring’s pre-season costs, so the next season starts funded.
• A set-aside for income tax, which your accountant can size for you.

That total is what the season has to earn before anything is left over. As each settlement cheque comes in, move a share of it to a separate account that the boat never touches. Then pay yourself the same draw from that account every month, twelve times a year. The season becomes a salary because you made it one.

If you qualify for EI fishing benefits, give them their own line in the plan. Eligibility is based on your earnings from fishing, not hours, and the minimum runs from $2,500 to $4,200 depending on the unemployment rate in your region. Plan on what you are likely to receive, not the 2026 maximum of $1,325 a week.

What records should I keep in season?

Every settlement slip from the buyer. Crew shares or pay records. Fuel, bait and gear receipts, and a note of any gear you lost. Keep it all in one envelope or one photo folder, and empty it weekly.

Those papers do three jobs later. They are your books. They back up your EI claim. And they are the first thing a lender asks for when you want a bigger boat or another licence. I wrote about that side in how a lender reads a fishing operation’s books.

What about HST on the catch?

According to the CRA’s guide for fishers, fish that is not processed further than frozen, salted, smoked, dried, scaled, gutted or filleted is zero-rated. Zero-rated means the HST rate on those sales is zero. It does not mean there is nothing to file. If you are registered, the returns still come due, and they are built from the receipts in that envelope.

Where does a bookkeeper fit in a fishing operation?

That is what our Fisher Plan is built around. It runs from $2,000 a season. It is paid in two instalments. The first comes out of your first settlement cheque, and the second comes at haul-out, so nothing is due in the pre-season hole.

A season covers the pre-season money plan and a lender-ready file if you are buying a boat, a licence or gear. It covers check-ins during the season that don’t take you off the water, and the post-season books and HST. It ends with next season’s plan. Crew payroll is extra: $225 a month, plus $8 per crew member per month, for the months of your season. A two-month season with five crew comes to about $530. The Record of Employment (ROE) for each crew member at haul-out is included.

From the desk

In nine-plus years of reading small-business files on the lending side, the files that read well were rarely the ones with the biggest year. They were the ones that showed the quiet months: a steady draw, a line of credit that came back down, taxes set aside. For a fishing operation, the quiet months are most of the year.

Key facts

• 2026 PEI lobster seasons: LFA 24, April 28 to June 28. LFA 26A-1, April 27 to June 27. LFA 25, August 10 to October 11. Source: DFO Gulf Region notices.
• 2024, preliminary: 1,219 licensed lobster fishers on PEI, 46,958,130 pounds landed, $358,401,000 landed value. Source: PEI provincial fisheries statistics.
• EI fishing benefits: qualify with $2,500 to $4,200 of fishing earnings, depending on the regional unemployment rate. Up to 26 weeks of benefits, to a maximum of $1,325 a week in 2026. Source: canada.ca.
• Fish not processed further than frozen, salted, smoked, dried, scaled, eviscerated or filleted is zero-rated for GST/HST. Source: CRA guide T4002.
• The Fisher Plan: from $2,000 a season, in two instalments. Crew payroll: $225 a month plus $8 per crew member per month, for the months of the season. HarperCo’s own prices.

Notes like this are general information, not advice on your specific situation — that’s what the kitchen table is for. — Dominic