Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) officers on the Sunshine Coast say they’re hopeful convictions in recent cases will boost efforts to deter future illegal fishing in the area.
Two of the cases have already gone to sentencing, with stiff fines imposed.
Qian Chen was found guilty Feb. 26 in Sechelt provincial court on one count of catching more than the daily quota of rock fish near Pender Harbour last September.
A stay of proceedings was ordered on six other charges that included fishing with prohibited gear and keeping undersized ling cod.
Chen was fined $5,000 dollars and had to forfeit the gear he was using that day.
On Jan. 24, also in Sechelt provincial court, Yu Rang Tang and Deli Gao, were found guilty in a case tied to illegal fishing in the Egmont area in 2018.
Tang was found guilty of one count of catching more than the allowed quota and one count of “purchase, sell or possess illegally caught fish.” He was fined $5,000 and was ordered to forfeit the boat DFO officers seized that day.
Gao was found guilty of obstructing a fishery officer during the investigation and fined $1,500.
It’s not unusual for illegal fishing cases to take a year or more to make their way through the courts, and in the Gao and Tang case the delays built up because of the need for interpreters and because one of the defendants was overseas.
“For fishery officers, obtaining convictions and obtaining strong sentences for individuals violating environmental laws is very, very important,” said DFO officer Ben Rahier from the Powell River office, which has responsibility for the lower Sunshine Coast. “Not only for a deterrence factor, but for us to know that we have the support of the community in the job that we’re doing and the courts as well.”
In a third case, Charles Larry Nichols and Kristopher Elvis Nichols, who were found guilty last December on six counts each related to fisheries violations near Nelson Island in 2017, will be back in court for sentencing April 24.
Kristopher Nichols has been convicted and fined for similar offences involving both fish and wildlife regulations the past.
The Crown is expected to ask for large fines and forfeiture of the vessel involved.
Rahier said judges have been accepting Crown sentencing recommendations in recent fisheries cases.
“I think it’s making a difference that these stiffer penalties are being levied and, as people in the community hear about them, it’s not just ‘the cost of doing business.’ If you get caught committing a significant offence, you can expect to see significant fines, licence suspensions and forfeitures,” he said.
Some provincial court judges hearing fisheries cases have also been outspoken about the need for more resources to combat the problem.
In a June 2019 ruling on a case of crab poaching in Powell River, Judge K. Arthur-Leung wrote that fishing and shellfish harvesting is “largely based on self-regulation and honesty due to the chronic understaffing of fisheries and conservation officers,” and said it was his opinion that DFO is “woefully understaffed” in the Pacific region.
Heading into the last federal election Sechelt Mayor Darnelda Siegers wrote then fisheries minister Jonathan Wilkinson, asking to have the Department of Fisheries and Oceans field office in Pender Harbour reopened and for an increase in “enforcement of poaching activities” on the Sunshine Coast.
There has been no indication from the new fisheries minister or West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country MP Patrick Weiler whether that’s being considered.
