A Canadian commercial fisher has been fined CAD 76,000 (USD 53,841, EUR 46,894) for operating outside of the testing area he was authorized to harvest from, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) announced 31 October.
According to DFO, Nova Scotia resident Grant William Cameron was caught illegally fishing in a closed area. Cameron had been authorized to harvest from a test fishery on 7-8 September 2022, but instead harvested fish from a closed area 120 km away from the designated area. When an at-sea observer requested Cameron’s position, he gave false information indicating that he was in the designated area for the test fishery.
Cameron pled guilty to the charges, and on 29 October the Port Hakesbury Provincial Court of Nova Scotia fined the fisher CAD 40,000 (USD 28,338, EUR 24,681) for operating in a closed area and providing incorrect location data to a DFO-designated at-sea observer. Judge Alain Bégin also imposed a further CAD 36,561 (USD 25,901, EUR 22,559) fine on Cameron to account for the gross profits he made from selling the 4,390 lbs of Atlantic Halibut harvested on his trip.
“Canada’s marine species are a precious common resource for Canadians and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is committed to helping sustain and protect them, now and for the future,” the government stated in a release.
Cameron will be required to use a vessel monitoring system for the next year and is banned from groundfish fishing in Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) division 4S and groundfish fishing subarea 4T2a.
