As per the press release Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Gulf Region, announced the latest sentences imposed on fish harvesters for violating the lobster and snow crab fisheries regulations. Robert Fitzgerald Jadis of the Abegweit First Nation, Prince Edward Island, pleaded guilty in Port Hood Provincial Court on April 21, 2010, to having fished snow crab gear inside the closed Crab Fishing Area (CFA) 18 buffer zone in 2009. Fishery officers from the Cheticamp Detachment laid charges against Jadis under Section 7 of the Aboriginal Communal Fishing Licences Regulations. He was asked to pay a $4,000 fine to Jadis by the Provincial Court Judge Laurel Halfpenny MacQuarrie.
In another case Joseph G. Timmons, Brennan G. Timmons, and Donald A. Bishop, of Cheticamp, Nova Scotia, pleaded guilty in Port Hood Provincial Court on March 24, 2010, to having been in possession of lobsters less than 78mm in the northern portion of Lobster Fishing Area (LFA) 26B, contrary to Section 57(2) of the Atlantic Fishery Regulations, 1985. He was imposed a $7,000 fine to Joseph Timmons, while Brennan Timmons and Donald Bishop each received a $2,000 fine.
Joseph G. Timmons was also prohibited by the court from transferring his commercial fishing license or vessel to someone else during the first week of lobster fishery. DFO is committed to the conservation and protection of aquatic resources in Canadian waters.
