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Fine fits the crime |
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On June 14, 2004 at 3:30 p.m., the District Fish and Wildlife officer in Fox Creek conducted a fisheries patrol on Iosegun Lake. Iosegun Lake is located north of Fox Creek and has a valuable and popular walleye sport fishery. Anglers are allowed to catch and retain three walleye over 43 centimetres per day from that lake. On this day the weather was marginal and unsettled by winds and a thunderstorm. The water was rough with whitecaps and the officer noted only two boats on the lake, which was not surprising considering the weather, but well below the normal activity for that time of the year. The officer checked a relatively seldom used access point to the lake and made note of a white Chevrolet pickup truck at that remote location. He then returned to the main parking area to conduct surveillance and inspect the other boat and fishermen as they returned to shore. With the aid of binoculars he noted a small boat traveling toward the remote site where the white pickup was parked. He then patrolled back to that same location. Upon the officer’s arrival he noted two males loading a small aluminium boat upside down into the bed of the white Chevrolet. During a brief interview, the two men admitted to fishing, stating that “...they’d caught a bunch of small ones, but hadn’t kept any.” After inspecting the bed of the truck the officer noted a pair of blue, oil patch-style coveralls that appeared to be stuffed full of something. Each leg end of the coveralls had been knotted and the main zipper had been zipped to the collar. Upon inspection of the coveralls, the officer discovered a large quantity of walleye. The officer seized the coveralls and 40 walleye, 35 of which were under the 43 cm minimum size limit. Both suspects were released on an Appearance Notice and charged for exceeding the possession limit for fish and catching and retaining fish of a prohibited length, under sections 17 and 23 of the Alberta Fishery Regulations 1998. The preceding is a summary of the facts. Let’s contemplate the details of this file. The two suspects verbally denied retaining any fish to the officer. Forty walleye were carefully placed into a set of coveralls to avoid detection. The coveralls were fully zipped and the legs were knotted to prevent the fish from slipping out. Is this a normal way to transport fish? I think not. The verbal statement to the officer and the condition of the fish speaks to a guilty mind. Did the two suspects know of the possession and size limits? The facts would indicate that they did. Now let’s examine the resource impact. Walleye in Iosegun Lake take approximately seven years to mature to spawning age. Thirty five of the walleye did not reach that point in their lifecycle. Fisheries biologists examine and calculate a sustainable harvest rate on sustainable walleye lakes. It was estimated by a fisheries biologist that the two suspects removed four per cent of the annual sustainable walleye harvest for Iosegun Lake that day. Between 20 and 25 of these trips by such individuals would effectively collapse this walleye fishery. Iosegun Lake normally sees an angler effort of 12 hours/Ha/year and can sustain that type of pressure if the anglers abide by the regulations. The two suspects could have retained their five legal-sized walleye and released the small ones. I suspect that the motive for this gross over limit was a total disregard for fisheries management and pure greed. On July 26, 2004 Adam Andurski and Neil Chaychuk appeared before Judge Mitchell in Fox Creek provincial court. Both entered guilty pleas to each charge and the court heard the circumstances and the resource impact submission. The court assessed the following penalties: Andurski: $2,500 per count, in default of payment, 60 days in jail for a total of $5,000 plus a two-year sportfishing licence suspension. Chaychuk: $2,500 per count, in default of payment, 60 days in jail for a total of $5,000 plus a one-year sportfishing licence suspension. After assessing the penalties, Judge Mitchell added, “I think it is a very expensive lesson you have learned and perhaps you might give up fishing for a different career.”
Does
a
collective
$10,000
fine
and
a
threeyear
licence
suspension
fit
the
crime? Miles
Grove
is
a
member
of
the
Alberta
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