VANCOUVER - Fisheries and Oceans Canada announced today that two residents of Vancouver have each received fines of $10,000 in a Surrey provincial court for illegally commercial fishing for crab in U.S. waters.

On November 7, 2001, fishery officers videotaped Cheuk Ming Lam and Hsin Yuan Liu who were illegally fishing in the U.S. waters of Boundary Bay. For this offence, Mr. Lam and Mr. Liu were each fined $10,000 and forfeited the illegally caught crabs.

Of each $10,000 fine, $9,900 will go towards the purpose of promoting the conservation and protection of fish or fish habitat. Mr. Liu was also fined an additional $318 as compensation for haul out costs incurred in the seizure of the vessel The John Lam.

Mr. Lam and Mr. Liu were arrested and charged as part of "Operation over the line 2001," a joint enforcement operation involving Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife. The purpose of this operation was to collect information on cross border illegal fishing and to apprehend Canadian commercial crab vessels fishing illegally in U.S. waters. Canadian fishery officers used digital video equipment with an 80-times zoom lens to observe vessels fishing up to 16 kilometres away.

Joint enforcement efforts are necessary since the Boundary Bay commercial crab fishery has had chronic problems with Canadian fishers fishing in U.S. waters without proper licences. Out of 19 vessels in the fleet, nine were observed fishing over the line.

Illegal fishing in U.S. waters is not only an international and economic issue, but also one of conservation of Canadian crab stocks. Courts have been issuing higher fines as a result of the chronic problems of illegal crab fishing. In addition to fines, offenders may have their vessel forfeited. In 2000, for example, the vessel Sea Star was forfeited for the same offence.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada is very concerned about illegal fishing activity and asks for assistance from the general public in reporting activities of this nature or any contravention of the Fisheries Act and Regulations. Anyone with information can call the 24-hour, toll-free Observe, Record, Report line at 1-800-465-4336.

Media contacts:

Barry Zunti
Fishery Officer
Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Pacific Region
(604) 607-4162