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Crab fisher fined for not declaring full catch
BONAVISTA, NL—Scott Brian Marsh, of Little Heart’s Ease, was convicted in Bonavista Provincial Court on June 14, 2006, for failing have his entire catch of crab dockside monitored.
On May 10, 2006, fishery officers from the Clarenville Detachment, on routine patrol in Catalina, Trinity Bay, boarded the crab fishing vessel, Random Princess, which docked at the public wharf in Catalina after offloading its catch.
Fishery officers inspected the ship’s hold and seized 31 lbs of undeclared crab.
Mr. Marsh was fined $500 and his cache of crab was forfeited to the Crown.
Fishing regulations require catches to be offloaded in the presence of a dockside observer.
Undersized crab
Two men from the Avalon Peninsula’s Southern Shore were convicted for possession of undersized crab in St. John’s Provincial Court on July 5, 2006.
Fishery officers were conducting a routine patrol in the community of Cape Broyle on May 3, 2006, and observed the fishing vessel Erika M offloading snow crab.
An inspection determined that Mr. Robert Hayden, of Cape Broyle, was operating the vessel on behalf of the licence holder, Mr. William Tee, of Tors Cove. The total catch of crab offloaded was 6,922 lbs, of which, 15.6 per cent was undersized and illegal to harvest.
Mr. Hayden was fined $1,100 and Mr. Tee was ordered to forfeit $1,058, the value of the undersized crab.
In Clarenville Provincial Court on July 5, 2006, Gordon Hickey, of Southern Harbour, was fined $800 for possessing undersized crab and ordered to forfeit 389 lbs of crab, valued at $307.38.
A routine inspection of Mr. Hickey’s crab landings from May 11, 2006, found his catch was comprised of 23 per cent undersized crab.
False documents and licence violations
Paul Pitcher, of Burin, was convicted in Clarenville Provincial Court on June 7, 2006, on two charges of providing false documents to a fishery officer, and using a vessel that was not named in his licence.
An investigation by fishery officers determined that Mr. Pitcher misreported his total catch of cod. The second charge resulted from an inaccurate logbook. The boat identified in the logbook was not the vessel used in the fishing venture.
Mr. Pitcher was fined a total of $2,000 and forfeited to the Crown 706 lbs of cod, valued at $494.20.
The apprehension was the result of an investigation by fishery officers from the Placentia and Arnold’s Cove offices on February 3, 2006.
For more information:
Susan Keough
Communications Officer
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
(709) 772-7628
Sam Whiffen
Communications Officer
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
(709) 772-7631
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