91原创

Three men caught in possession of more than 80 undersized Dungeness crab caught in the waters off North 91原创 have been handed fines ranging from $3,300 to $6,500 and banned from crab fishing for two years.

The three Surrey men – Arnulfo Delfin, 58, Wilson Palapox, 56, and Jerry Palafox, 51 – were handed the sentence Wednesday after pleading guilty to fisheries offences in North 91原创 provincial court.

Crown counsel Kaitlin Kuefler described how on the afternoon of March 1, 2023, fisheries officers watched the men board a small boat off North 91原创’s Whey-ah-Wichen/Cates Park and tracked them through binoculars. Fisheries officers watched as Delfin drove the boat up to four buoys in the water, and one of the other men pulled up crab traps, she said. An hour later they returned to the park, where fisheries officers approached the men, asking if they’d caught anything yet.

Delfin responded, “Nothing yet, we just started fishing,” said Kuefler.

But officers spotted one small crab loose in the boat. A further search revealed a black garbage bag full of 81 Dungeness crabs, she said.

“Every single crab was undersized,” she said, and 27 of the crabs were female, some with eggs on them.

“It is always an offence to possess female crabs,” she noted, adding the daily catch limit per person is four crabs.

Both the size restrictions and quota limits are in place to protect conservation of the resource, she said.

When the crabs were returned to the water, fisheries officer noticed many of them appeared to not be moving and some had their legs broken off.

It was not a case of “near compliance,” said Kuefler, but was a “fairly flagrant breach” of the regulations, involving “a significant number of crabs.”

Speaking to the judge, Delfin said, “We know what we did was wrong.”

“I’m the one to blame,” he said, adding he knows the fisheries regulations, while the other two men didn’t. “I accept my punishment and my responsibility,” he said.

All three pleaded guilty to charges under the Fisheries Act of catching and retaining undersized crab and retaining more than the allowed daily limit. Delfin also pleaded guilty to making false statements to a fisheries officer.

Judge Timothy Hinkson handed Delfin a fine of $6,500, while the two other men both received fines of $3,300.

All three were banned from further crab fishing for two years. The crab traps were also ordered forfeited.

Hinkson said the fishery depends on the honour system to protect the resource and on people informing themselves of their obligations. Flouting the rules must be taken seriously, he said.

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