NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR – Ten individuals were recently convicted in Gander Provincial Court of violating federal fishery regulations following investigations by Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
- On February 10, 2010, Stewart Morey of La Scie was convicted of fishing Greenland halibut during a closed time. He was fined $2000 and his catch, valued at $21,059, was forfeited by the court. On June 30, 2008, fishery officers boarded the boat Corrine Blair and discovered the infraction.
- On January 11, 2010, James Gillard of Gillard's Cove was convicted of landing cod without dockside monitoring and providing false information to a fishery officer. He was fined $1250 and 400 pounds of gutted cod valued at $647 was forfeited by the Crown. On September 9, 2008, fishery officers from the Twillingate detachment were conducting surveillance in the Gillard's Cove area. They observed Mr. Gillard offloading and processing cod without dockside monitoring and during inspection produced a purchase slip containing false information.
- On December 17, 2009, Bruce Blandford and Doland Blandford of Merritt's Harbour and Calvin Blandford of Twillingate were convicted of exceeding the daily bag limit of cod and were each fined $700. As well, Bruce Blanford forfeited 259 pounds of cod valued at $154. On September 30, 2009, fishery officers from the Twillingate detachment were conducting surveillance in the Merritt's Harbour area and observed the individuals retaining 53 codfish, 38 more than the combined daily bag limit.
- On January 19, 2010, Calvin and Reg Mouland of Musgrave Harbour were convicted for illegal fishing. Calvin Mouland was fined $200 for fishing snow crab from a vessel not named in his licence and Reg Mouland was fined $400 for fishing cod and crab from a vessel not named in his licence. On September 27, 2009, a Dockside Monitoring Program incident report revealed the infractions.
- On December 14, 2009, George Collins of Seldom, Fogo Island, was convicted of fishing from a vessel not named in his licence and fined $350. On September 27, 2008, fishery officers from the Twillingate detachment detected the infraction while conducting boat patrol of Little Fogo Island.
- On December 17, 2009, Trevor Brown of Summerford was convicted of fishing unmarked lobster pots. He was fined $300 and 15 lobster pots were forfeited by the court. On June 11, 2009, fishery officers from the Twillingate detachment were patrolling the Exploits area of Notre Dame Bay and conducted an inspection of Mr. Brown's lobster pots. Fisheries regulations require that lobster pots are tagged with an identification number that is associated with a licenced lobster harvester.
- On August 25, 2009, Craig Card of Merritt's Harbour was convicted of fishing from an unregistered vessel and fined $200. The infraction was discovered on September 17, 2009, when Mr. Card's vessel was boarded by a dockside monitor in Twillingate prior to offloading the vessel.
- On November 19, 2009, Cyril Woodford of Herring Neck, Notre Dame Bay, was convicted of fishing from an unregistered vessel and fined $150. Fishery officers from the Twillingate detachment detected the violation on September 27, 2008, while on patrol in the Herring Neck area of Notre Dame Bay.
Fishing is a valuable part of the life, culture, and economy of our communities. Don't let poachers destroy that. Report poaching. Call Crime Stoppers 1-800-222-8477.
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For more information:
Lisa Lawlor
Communications Officer
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
(709) 772-7628
