Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has fined a commercial fishing vessel owner CAD 36,989 (USD 26,959, EUR 23,046) for illegally catching and selling fish from a closed area.
According to DFO, Pacific Sunrise owner Stefan Grega was caught illegally retaining and selling fish during the 2023-2023 commercial halibut season. Grega allegedly caught the fish in the Haida Gwaii, an archipelago off the coast of British Columbia, Canada, despite the area being closed at that time.
Grega pled guilt to five violations of Canada’s Fisheries Act, including setting gear during a close time, catching and retaining fish during a closed time, and selling illegally caught fish. Together, the five violations resulted in a total financial penalty of CAD 30,000 (USD 21,865, EUR 18,692), though the court also fined Grega CAD 6,989 (USD 5,094, EUR 4,354) for the proceeds from his illegal sale.
“DFO’s inspection process relies on several tools and programs, including fishing logbooks, electronic monitoring video systems, the dockside monitoring program and the Groundfish Audit System,” DFO said in a release. “These were all instrumental in identifying and investigating Mr. Grega’s illegal activities.”
DFO uses electronic systems and onboard observers to fully monitor the Pacific Region commercial groundfish fishery, and electronic monitoring data is used to detect fishing operations in closed areas and report those instances to law enforcement.
