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PORT AU CHOIX, NL – Two Green Island Cove fishers were convicted of scallop violations in Port Au Choix Provincial Court on October 3, 2006.
Scott Mitchelmore and Boyd Mitchelmore were each fined $1,800 for fishing scallops in a closed zone. Scott Mitchelmore was fined an additional $1,000 for leaving port without an observer onboard, despite a fishery officer order to the contrary.
In response to complaints of misreporting and fishing in a closed area during the 2005 scallop fishery in the Strait of Belle Isle area, fishery officers conducted early morning and late night air, land and sea patrols utilizing spotting scopes and night vision equipment to detect violators. As a further measure, observers were deployed to fishing vessels to increase compliance.
A fishery officer from the St. Anthony Detachment contacted Scott Mitchelmore on August 12, 2005, advising him that an observer had been assigned to his vessel for the duration of his next fishing trip, and that he was not to leave port without the observer. On August 22, 2005, the observer contacted the fishery officer notifying him that Scott Mitchelmore had sailed without him on two separate occasions.
On September 9, 2005, fishery officers from the St. Anthony Detachment, conducting an early morning patrol, observed both Scott and Boyd Mitchelmore fishing in a closed zone in the Strait of Belle Isle. They were subsequently charged.
Fines for failing to arrange dockside monitoring and exceeding cod quotas
Raymond Hynes of Shoal Cove West was convicted and fined $250 for failing to have his cod dockside monitored and $400 for exceeding his weekly quota of cod.
During a routine patrol of the 4R commercial cod fishery on July 12, 2006, Mr. Hynes was apprehended at the New Ferolle dock by a fishery officer from the St. Anthony Detachment. Upon inspection of Mr. Hynes’ vehicle, it was determined that he had not reported the 296 lbs of cod that he had onboard, nor had he made arrangements for dockside monitoring to offload his catch. Fishing regulations require catches to be offloaded in the presence of a dockside observer.
On July 17, 2005, Mr. Hynes was found in violation of his 2005 commercial cod licence conditions by exceeding his weekly quota of cod. This investigation was based upon information received from the Western Area Statistics Branch after a review of his catch landing records confirmed that from July 11 to July 17, 2005 he had exceeded his weekly quota by 496 lbs.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
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Kim Penney
Communications Officer
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
709 -772-7629
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Larry Vaters
Communications Officer
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
709 -772-7633
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NR-NL-06-44E |
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