A seafood importer and former chef in Richmond, British Columbia, has been fined CAD 40,000 for possessing illegal Northern abalone.
Kai Kin Ng, owner of Kin Seafood Importing Corporation, was handed the hefty fine in Richmond Provincial Court on 15 May for trading in a threatened species. Northern abalone, known also as pinto abalone, is protected under the federal Species at Risk Act.
Officers from the Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans searched facilities owned by Ng’s company in December 2010. Authorities seized 280 kilograms of abalone worth anywhere from CAD 30,000 to CAD 100,000 as evidence. The contraband is considered forfeit to the Crown and will be destroyed.
“In order to sell illegal abalone they’re typically hidden with legal types,” said Art Demsky, a fisheries officer involved in the seizure.
