After thorough probe Fisheries and Oceans Canada found three fish harvesters have been convicted of violating federal fishery regulations. It is said that provincial court at Grand Bank convicted Lester Fudge of Burin of possessing undersized Atlantic halibut, failure to accurately record catch information, failure to have all catch weighed by a dockside observer and possession of processed fish that could not be accurately weighed. He was fined $10,000 and his catch was forfeited by the court.
Last year fishery officers from the Marystown detachment were conducting an inspection of Fudge’s vessel, Nancy & Boys, in Burin. Officials revealed the illegal catch held in containers onboard the vessel after the offloading. In another case the provincial court at Grand Falls fined Wesley Snook of Harbour Breton of $750 and his catch was forfeited by the court for possession of oversized salmon and making a false or misleading statement to a fishery guardian.
On April 28, 2009 in provincial court at Port de Grave, Edward Morgan was fined $700 for failing to offload his entire crab catch in the presence of a dockside monitor. On July 26, 2007, the dockside monitor discovered an additional 530 pounds of crab that was not monitored onboard Mr. Morgan’s boat, the Michael Mariner III.
