A Nova Scotia court has handed out fines totalling $76,000 to a fisherman, plus area bans and mandatory VMS monitoring of the vessel in question.
In September 2022, Grant Cameron was authorised by DFO to conduct a test fishery in subarea 4T2a to determine the presence of species not currently fished commercially in the area in question – such as Atlantic cod. The results of this test fishery were intended to inform groundfish fisheries management decisions.
Instead, he fished in NAFO division 4S, more than 120km away from the authorised area, in an area that was closed to groundfish fishing at the time. In addition, when an at-sea observer requested vessel coordinates, those for subarea 4T2a were incorrectly provided instead of the actual location of the vessel in 4S.
Total fines of $76,561.35 levied on Grant Cameron, who had pled guilty in a previous court appearance, are $40,000 for setting fishing gear during a closed time and failing to provide the correct position of a fishing vessel at the request of a DFO-designated at-sea observer, plus an additional fine of $36,561.35, equivalent to the gross profits made by the sale of 1990kg (4390lbs) of Atlantic halibut.
The court further ordered a one year prohibition on groundfish fishing in Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) division 4S and groundfish fishing subarea 4T2a, and the mandatory use of a vessel monitoring system (VMS) on his fishing vessel for one year.
