More than $100K in fines issued for illegal fishing along B.C. coast, DFO says

According to the DFO, this image presented as evidence in the case of Truc Hoang Le shows a deckhand baiting hooks for a long line. The vessel was only licensed to fish crab by trap or pot. (Fisheries and Oceans Canada)

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is publicizing three recent court decisions resulting in more than $100,000 in fines for three people convicted of violations of the Fisheries Act.

The first of the three fines was issued on Oct. 31, but the DFO shared details of the case in a news release on Tuesday.

The federal agency said commercial fisherman Adrian Slavko Kern was fined a total of $49,704.68 after pleading guilty to Fisheries Act violations in Prince Rupert provincial court.

Kern's fine included $25,000 for illegally setting fishing gear, plus $24,704.68 for the illegal sale of fish, the DFO said.

"The court judgment also prohibited Mr. Kern from applying for a new commercial fishing licence and from fishing under any commercial licence for a period of eight months," the agency said in its release.

The DFO added that Kern's illegal fishing happened from Sept. 13 to 19, 2018, when he was fishing commercially for halibut and sablefish in the Chatham Sound area near Prince Rupert, which was closed for harvest.

In determining the penalty Kern would face, the judge considered his three previous convictions under the Fisheries Act, which occurred in 2003, 2005 and 2020, according to the DFO.

On Thursday, the federal department announced two other recent Fisheries Act convictions, including another one related to illegal fishing in Chatham Sound.

Commercial crab harvester Truc Hoang Le was fined a total of $20,000 in a January Prince Rupert provincial court decision after being found guilty of "numerous violations" of the act, according to the DFO.

The agency said Le "failed to follow the regulations by ensuring that the electronic monitoring system was accurately monitoring the vessel 24 hours per day, seven days per week, while engaged in fishing" between April 15 and May 4, 2018.

Most of his fine – $18,000 – was for failing to comply with the conditions of his commercial crab licence, while the remaining $2,000 was for other Fisheries Act violations, the DFO said.

A third fisherman was fined a total of $44,000 for violations that occurred in Rivers Inlet, B.C. from March 27 to April 15, 2019.

The DFO said commercial crab harvester Sou Tac Ma was found guilty in Port Hardy provincial court on Dec. 21. He was fined $21,500 for fishing commercial for crab during a closed time, and $22,500 for fishing without a valid commercial harvest licence.

Across the three unrelated cases, the three men were fined a total of $113,704.68.

"The Government of Canada is committed to protecting Canada’s wildlife and biodiversity," the DFO said in its release.

"This includes safeguarding the long-term health and productivity of Canada’s fisheries resources, and the habitat that supports them, for generations to come."

The agency asks anyone with information on illegal fishing activities to call Crime Stoppers or the DFO Pacific region's reporting line: 1-800-465-4336. Information can also be emailed to [e-mail].