Two amateur anglers have been fined $1,500 each for illegal rockfish fishing in Howe Sound.
Rong Yu Tan and Jian Ye Xie pleaded guilty in November last year to one count each of violating the Federal Fisheries Act after they were caught casting their lines in a protected rockfish area.
Fisheries officers were on patrol on July 28, 2017 when they spotted three men fishing from the shoreline just north of Lions Bay. When they approached, one of the men fled into the bushes but Tan and Xie stayed and were arrested.
Enforcement officers testified they saw a protected rockfish floating in the water nearby but they did not see it in the possession of Tan and Xie. The fish survived and dove under the water.
When it came to their sentencing in North 麻豆传媒映画provincial court on March 4, federal Crown lawyer Chantelle Coulson had requested the judge hand down fines of $3,000 each but then men鈥檚 lawyer, Chris Wong, said that would be too high given the facts of the case.
Wong described his clients as hobbyists who only fish once or twice per month during the summer. They were simply neglectful in checking whether they were allowed to fish there, he argued, and the $3,000 fine would be overly burdensome, as Tan is a construction worker who gets by on around $20,000 per year and Xia is a single father who lives paycheque to paycheque, supporting his two daughters.
鈥淭hrough this court process, Mr. Tan and Mr. Xia have learned their lesson,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 would argue Mr. Tan and Mr. Xia should be fined a maximum of $1,000 each. It is heavy enough to serve as a deterrent for Mr. Tan and Mr. Xia and other recreational hobbyists like them.鈥�
Coulson however, urged the judge to consider Tan and Xia鈥檚 moral culpability, not their ability to pay, when setting the fine.
鈥淩egardless of that, they are entering a realm that is highly regulated. There is a burden on anyone in that realm, whether recreational or commercial, to educate themselves on the rules and regulations about the fisheries they are involved with,鈥� she said.
They did know enough to get fishing licences, she pointed out.
Judge Bryce Dyer, however, found $1,500 to be the 鈥渇it and just鈥� penalty.
鈥淚 accept that by pleading guilty to the offence on the information before the court that they thereby have shown remorse and are sorry for what they have done,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 am quite satisfied that, by reason of their economic circumstances, any fine will amount to a hardship for them and will be a deterrent for them. I also am of the view that the result in this case and in other cases will send a clear message to members of the public who might fish in a closed area.鈥�
Tan and Xia were given one year to pay the fine.
