PLACENTIA, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR, July 15, 2004 - Two men from the Branch, St. Mary's Bay area of Newfoundland and Labrador have been convicted of hunting migratory birds out of season. David Gerard Nash and Darren Francis English were convicted in Provincial Court of one count each under the Government of Canada's Migratory Birds Regulations.

The charges and conviction relate to an incident which occurred on May 11, 2004 on the Cape St. Mary's coastline, about three kilometers from the Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve.

A Provincial Court judge ordered the two men to each pay a $2000 fine. They are prohibited from hunting migratory birds for five years, and also prohibited for five years from being in the company of someone hunting migratory birds. The two men forfeit all items seized, which include two all terrain vehicles, one twelve-gauge shotgun, 30 eider duck decoys and several rounds of twelve-gauge ammunition.

Wildlife enforcement officers from Environment Canada's Canadian Wildlife Service, acting on information they received on potential illegal hunting activities in the Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve, discovered Nash and English during a helicopter patrol.

For more information, please contact:

Paul Langdon
Canadian Wildlife Service
Environment Canada, Atlantic Region
(709) 541-1277