84121 Fishing vessel deckhands

What this occupation covers

Fishing vessel deckhands perform a variety of manual tasks on commercial fishing voyages, and maintain fishing vessels. They are employed by establishments that operate commercial fishing vessels and by self-employed fishermen/women.

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 7 main duties for this code.

• Prepare nets, lines and other fishing tackle, and operate fishing gear to catch fish and other marine life
• Sort, return protected species to the water, clean and pack fish in ice and stow catch in hold
• Repair nets, splice ropes and maintain fishing gear and other deck equipment
• Clean deck surfaces and fish hold
• Handle anchors and mooring lines during docking and undocking procedures
• May steer vessels to and from fishing areas
• May prepare and cook meals for crew members.

Do not copy these lines into your reference letter. The letter has to describe what you actually did, in your employer’s words. DUTYPROOF flags wording lifted from the NOC as something to review, and an officer reading a letter that mirrors the NOC reads it the same way.

What DUTYPROOF screens for

This is DUTYPROOF’s screening threshold, not IRCC’s decision. For this NOC, screening requires at least 2 of its 7 official duties to be evidenced in your own words, plus the required letter elements. IRCC asks that you performed the actions in the occupation’s lead statement and a substantial number of its main duties — so treat the duty coverage as the number that matters, not the badge.

Codes this one is confused with

The NOC profile names these itself. Choosing the wrong code of a look-alike pair is the most common way genuine work experience fails to establish eligibility.

• 72602 Deck officers, water transport
• 83121 Fishermen/women
• 83120 Fishing masters and officers

Excluded from this code

• Deck officers, water transport (See 72602 Deck officers, water transport)
• Fishermen/women (See 83121 Fishermen/women)
• Fishing masters and officers (See 83120 Fishing masters and officers)

Job titles filed under this code

A title on this list does not by itself put your experience in this code — the duties in your letter decide that.

fishboat deckhand · fishing vessel checkerman/woman · fishing vessel crewman/woman · fishing vessel deckhand · fishing vessel icer · fishing vessel netmender · fishing vessel rollerman/woman · fishing vessel skiffman/woman · gillnetter deckhand · offshore trawler deckhand · seiner deckhand · shellfish harvester deckhand · trawlerman/woman

Employment requirements

• There are no specific educational requirements.
• On-the-job training is provided.
• Marine Emergency Duties certificate is required by Transport Canada.
• A deckhand training program may be required.
• Trawlermen/women require at least one year of experience.
• Fishing vessel deckhands require a commercial fishing licence.