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Fines for illegal fishing, including $5,000
Stephenville—Provincial court judges in Stephenville have fined several west coast residents for fishing violations.
Octave Benoit, a commercial fisher from Marches Point, on the Port au Port Peninsula, was fined $5,000 for fishing cod during a closed time.
During a routine patrol in the Bay St. George area, fishery officers from the Stephenville Detachment observed Mr. Benoit aboard a small open boat heading ashore. A search of the vessel revealed 141 lbs of illegal cod. Mr. Benoit pled guilty to catching the fish using handlines. The cod, valued at $63.48 was forfeited to the Crown.
Reginald Bennett, of Stephenville Crossing, was fined a total of $1,200 on two charges: possession of lobster and obstructing a fishery officer. The judge also ordered the boat and motor used during the offence forfeited to the Crown.
Fishery officers and guardians working as a special investigations unit operating from the Stephenville Detachment used a spotting scope to observe Mr. Bennett in a small boat in the southeast end of Main Gut. Upon landing, fishery officers approached Mr. Bennett who immediately began to discard, into the water, the contents of a bucket he had removed from his vessel. Further investigation revealed that the bucket had contained illegal lobster.
Byron Butt, a commercial fisher from Heatherton, was convicted of possession of unmonitored groundfish. He was fined $1,750 and all fish was seized and forfeited to the Crown.
A fishery officer and guardian from the Stephenville Detachment on plain clothes patrol, observed Mr. Butt offloading at the wharf of his private fishing station in Heatherton on July 14, 2005. Upon investigation of his vessel and nearby fishing shed, he was found in possession of 199 lbs of salted cod, 386 lbs of fresh cod, and 151 lbs of Atlantic halibut.
Under the condition of licence, commercial fishers are required to offload catches in the presence of a dockside monitor. The recorded information is used by DFO for conservation and protection of fish resources.
For more information:
Sam Whiffen
Communications Officer
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
(709) 772-7631
Kim Penney
Communications Officer
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
(709) 772-7629
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