ILLEGAL ABALONE ACTIVITY LEADS TO $25,000 FINE

Nanaimo, B.C. – Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) announced today that Richard Kieu Du was fined $25,000 for unlawfully possessing abalone.

Mr. Du’s guilty plea is the result of a year long investigation by Fisheries and Oceans Special Investigation Unit.

Recently in Victoria provincial court, Mr. Du was assessed a $25,000 penalty, of which $5,000 constituted a fine.  The remaining $20,000 will be directed towards DFO for the purpose of promoting and fostering the recovery of abalone stocks on the West Coast of Canada, and for the conservation and protection of abalone and abalone habitat.  

The court further ordered that the sum of $20,000 be proportionally distributed to the Haida Gwaii Tribal Society, care of the Haida Gwaii Abalone Stewardship Group, or the Kitasoo Abalone Stewardship Project, or to other such organizations for the conservation and protection of abalone.

In May 2000, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) placed the Northern Abalone on the threatened list.  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.

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