Fishermen in Atlantic Canada are taking a hard look at a proposal by Fisheries and Oceans Minister Geoff Regan that would allow officers to issue tickets for certain minor offenses under the Fisheries Act and its regulations.
Under Regan’s proposal, ticketing would be phased in over the next few years and the process would be comparable to ticketing for motor vehicle violations. A person who receives a ticket could opt to pay the fine indicated on the ticket to avoid a court appearance or could choose to appear in court to contest the ticket. The new system would focus on Atlantic Canada and the Northern Territories.
A sampling of reactions by fishermen’s organizations show that fishermen would like more information and would have liked to have been consulted before any announcement by DFO.
“We have some concerns about how all this is going to be implemented, and we’re hoping to get some [DFO] representatives over here in July to clarify things for us,” said Melanie Sonnenberg, coordinator of the Eastern Fishermen’s Federation, which represents organizations from Grand Manan to Quebec. “A major problem is that there hasn’t been any public consultation on this. All we’ve had is a moving around of paper.”
“It’s a bit complicated, says Rory McLellan, general manager of the Prince Edward Island Fishermen’s Association. “Without the fines minor offences are often overlooked because of the difficulty and time involved bringing a case to court. To that extent, the fines are a good thing. There are fears that the fines, however, might adversely affect the courts for minor offences. For example, the fine for a short lobster is $500, assuming it is one lobster in a catch of 1,200 lbs. When a serious offender is caught with 600 lbs. of short lobster in a catch of 1,000 lbs., what will the value of his defense showing the court that the fine is $500?”
McLellan concluded, “The honest answer is, ‘we don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see what happens.'”
Maurice Theriault, project officer for the Maritime Fishermen’s Union based in Shediac, New Brunswick, said, “We’re looking at it. But there needs to be some consultation and clarification before we can respond.”
According to Regan, the DFO initiative proposes to phase in the use of tickets under the Contraventions Act for certain minor offenses set out in the Atlantic Fishery Regulations, 1985, and the Fishery (General) Regulations as soon as possible. Under the proposal, fishery officers would be able to use the tickets to enforce these regulations in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Quebec. In Newfoundland and Labrador, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, ticketing would only be implemented after an agreement for the use of the Contraventions Act regime is reached with the provincial or territorial government.