Fraser River commercial shrimp fish harvesters fined $2,000 for retaining by-catch

by DFO Western Region
(Steveston, BC Canada)

A commercial shrimp fish harvester and his wife pled guilty and were each fined $1,000 in Richmond Provincial Court April 23, 2009, on a charge of illegal harvesting practices contrary to the Fisheries Act.

Hoa Van Dang, owner of the commercial shrimp fishing vessel "Twilight" and his wife, Thi Lieu Vo, were found to have retained by-catch contrary to the conditions of their shrimp trawl licence. On January 30, 2009, their boat was at anchor mid-channel in the Fraser River when Fishery Officers, alerted to potentially unusual activity by the large numbers of sea birds circling the vessel, boarded the ship for a compliance check. Dang and Vo were found sorting their catch on deck.

Despite the fact that the couple had completed fishing four hours previously, it was found that there were large amounts of dead and dying by-catch still mixed with the shrimp catch. A large cooler containing 678 eel pouts (an eel-like bottom-dwelling fish) packed in crushed ice was also discovered.

Commercially harvested fish should be immediately sorted and, as a condition of the shrimp trawl licence, by-catch must immediately be returned to the water in the least harmful way. This was not done by Dang and Vo who were on the Fraser River at the time, a significant distance from the natural habitat for the eel pouts.

DFO acts to end illegal fishing activity. As part of this work, the Department asks the general public for information on activities of this nature or any contravention of the Fisheries Act and Regulations. Anyone with information can call the toll-free violation reporting line at 1-800-465-4336.