After thorough investigations by fishery officers from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) detachments in Placentia and Marystown five individuals were found guilty of violating groundfish and whelk fishing rules. Provincial court in St. John’s convicted Anthony Gilbert of Foxtrap of permitting a person not named in his licence to operate his vessel, and was fined $750.
William MacDonald of St. John’s was convicted of fishing whelk without a licence and was fined $500. Fishery officers from the Placentia detachment inspected Gilbert’s fishing vessel, Cape Mariner, at port in O’Donnell’s, St. Mary’s Bay on November 6, 2008.
In another case the provincial court at Clarenville convicted Keith Drake of Lawn and Theresa Best of Southern Harbour of fishing with groundfish gillnets without identification tags attached. Both were fined $500. Fishery officers from the Placentia detachment conducted and inspection of groundfish gillnets near Little Harbour, Placentia Bay on February 17, 2009 and discovered that 22 of the 23 gillnets did not have a valid gillnet tag attached.
Dennis Ellis of St. John’s also convicted by the provincial court at Grand Bank, of misreporting catch in his fishing logbook, a condition of his licence. He was fined $500.On February 17, 2009 fishery officers from the Marystown Detachment inspected the fishing vessel Jean Colette in Burin and discovered a number of Atlantic halibut in the hold of the vessel that were not recorded in the vessel logbook.
