MAN FINED $10,000 FOR ILLEGAL POSSESSION OF ABALONE

VANCOUVER, B.C. – Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) announced today that Sin Kae of the Rupert Fish Market, Vancouver, was fined $10,000 after pleading guilty for unlawful possession of abalone (a marine mollusc). Chow Kae also pleaded guilty to giving a false statement to officers and was fined $200.

During a routine inspection of the store, fishery officers found abalone which were seized and sent to the DFO Molecular Genetics Laboratory for DNA testing. Results from testing confirmed that seized abalone was wild Northern Pinto abalone (H. kamtschatkana), a threatened species which is illegal for harvest and possession.

Recently in Vancouver Provincial Court, Mr. Kae pleaded guilty and received a penalty totalling $10,000, of which $500 constituted a fine. The remaining $9,500 is directed towards the DFO Molecular Genetics Laboratory at the Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo which conducts forensic analysis of seized abalone stock and is responsible for providing evidence on abalone species and stock identification.

In May 2000, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) placed the Northern Abalone on the threatened list. In June of 2003, the Species at Risk Act (SARA) officially listed Northern Abalone as “threatened”.  A threatened species is a wildlife species that is likely to become endangered if nothing is done to reverse the factors leading to its extirpation or extinction.  Illegal harvesting and poaching of abalone are considered the biggest factors affecting the recovery of this species.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada is concerned with this type of illegal activity and asks for the continued assistance from the general public and commercial fishers for information on activities of this nature or any contravention of the Fisheries Act and Regulations.  Anyone with information can call the 24-hour, toll free Observe, Record, and Report line at 1-800-465-4336.

-30-

For more information:

Dan Bate

Communications Advisor

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

604-775-8809