DFO Fines, but should do more...
Its bad to get caught with your pants down once, but to have a bunch of convictions? Why is this person still allowed to fish at all?
How would you feel buying from these people only to find out they REGULARLY fish illegally? I'm tempted to put a pamphlet together detailing all local commercial guys who have been fined and hand it out around Steveston docks! I want to know who i'm buying from! I'd probably need to bring a 12ga with me!
Richmond Commercial Shrimp Harvesters Fined for Illegal Possession of Eel Pouts February 1, 2010
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RICHMOND, B.C. – Two commercial shrimp harvesters pled guilty and were fined $4,000 in Richmond Provincial Court December 3, 2009, on a charge of illegal possession of fish contrary to the Fisheries Act.
Kim Thanh Ho and Mien Thi Pham, of the commercial shrimp fishing vessel “Pamela Dawn,” were found guilty of being in possession of fish contrary to the conditions of their shrimp trawl licence. The vessel master, Kim Thanh Ho, has multiple previous convictions including a failure to release bycatch and failures to comply with licence conditions. He was fined $3,000 and Ms. Pham was fined $1,000.
On July 10, 2009, when the vessel “Pamela Dawn” was anchored at the public sales dock in Steveston Harbour, fishery officers on patrol to verify licence compliance of commercial shrimp trawl vessels in the area observed Ms. Pham attempting to discard the contents of a container overboard. The officer ordered Ms. Pham to stop and undertook an on-board inspection. It was determined by the officer that the basket contained eel pouts (an eel-like bottom-dwelling fish) which were on ice and appeared to be ready to be sold.
Commercially harvested fish should be immediately sorted. As a condition of the shrimp trawl licence, bycatch must immediately be returned to the water in the least harmful way and as close as possible to the natural habitat where the fish were caught.
DFO acts to end illegal fishing activity. As part of this work, the Department asks the general public for information on activities of this nature or any contravention of the Fisheries Act and Regulations. Anyone with information can call the toll-free violation reporting line at 1-800-465-4336.
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For more information:
Leri Davies, Strategic Media Relations Advisor
Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Pacific Region
Tel: (604) 666-8675 Cell: 604-612-6837
I hate to say it, but it doesn't surprise me one bit.Originally Posted by flyfishforfun
Fly fishing is not only a method to catch fish, but a state of mind.
Its not DFO to blame. Its the court system. Trust me a Fishery officer is more frustrated with repeat offenders than anyone. They take the time to investigat, make the bust, file a Report to Crown Council, then half the time Crown doesn't want to prosecute. If they do prosecute, the sentences passed down by the judge are often not enough of a detterent to prevent a repeat offence. If everyone thought a little bit about where and who they buy seafood from it wouldn't be an issue...
Thats ridiculous, they need to have their licence revoked and there boat and fishing gear seized but, like Stevil stated, the DFO have their hands tied because of laws that do nothing to keep laws from being broken. Its a sad thing we have to see but what can you do, we should all go and burn down their boat, but in all seriousness something needs to be done or something needs to be changed soon so that these discretions will stop.
I didn't mean to point the blame at DFO in my post- i realize they (the fisheries officers, not the Ottawa beaurocrats) have a tough job, and that it is the courts that need to step up and impose stiffer fines. I bet the DFO officers that caught these guys would LOVE to confiscate their boats and equipment.
We need more fisheries officers, SCIENCE based decision making (not politics based decisions) stiffer sentencing, greater habitat protection... or we won't need ANY fisheries officers, as there will be no fisheries to protect.
Ask and you shall recieve....The rumour mill says 22 officers for Pacific region on the way.....
That is great news- more the merrier in my opinion. Do you know how many officers there already are in this region? Based on 22 more officers spread between BC and Yukon (the Pacific Region, according to DFO) there will be an extra officer for every 64,800km2! They should put most of them in the Lower Mainland- they could offset their costs and wages in no time through revenue from fines on the Stave and Vedder alone!
Commercial fishermen are destroying one of our planet's greatest resources, and they're not slowing down because governments won't enforce catch quotas or even adopt scientifically calculated quotas.
After watching "The End of the Line", I genuinely wanted to sink a few commercial fishing boats.
Sometimes it is necessary for the local CO Services or DFO people to do a lot more education of the people in the court system who make these decisions. We did this years ago in northern BC, and for a time, some of the fines and seizures were surprisingly costly. I am not so sure much is being done any longer, given that MOE has burdened CO Services with far too many acts to administer/monitor for infractions, however I admit to being out of the loop on this at present.
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