In provincial court at Clarenville on November 19, 2008, three men were convicted for exceeding the daily catch quota during the 2008 Recreational groundfish Fishery. Harry Bartlett of Amherst Cove was fined $1,000 and forfeited a $1,000 cash surety for a boat and motor. In the same incident, Lindsay Durdle and Newman Albert Durdle of Bonavista were also charged with the same offence. It is said that each received a $1,000 fine and prohibited from participation in the Recreational Groundfish Fishery for one year.
According to courts these charges stemmed from a stake-out by DFO fishery officers from the Clarenville detachment on September 29, 2008, where they observed a vessel make two landings. In Provincial Court at St. John’s on November 25, 2008, Richard Martin of St. Phillips and Dorothy Purcell of Paradise were convicted of fishing cod during a closed time. Mr. Martin and Ms. Purcell each received a $500 fine, and Mr. Martin forfeited his catch and his rod and reel.
The courts informed that these charges resulted from a patrol by DFO fishery officers from the Bay Roberts detachment on October 13, 2008, where they observed a vessel with two individuals fishing cod despite the fact that the fishery was not open at this time. It is known that DFO is committed to the conservation and protection of marine resources in Newfoundland and Labrador.
