A four-day crack down on illegal fishing in the waters off Metro Vancouver has led to the removal and destruction of more than 250 crab traps, according to a spokesperson from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).
The joint operation was carried out by federal fishery officers and the Canadian Coast Guard in Boundary Bay near White Rock, B.C., and involved a hovercraft and several patrol vessels.
Once hauled out of the water, authorities found 59 per cent of the traps were sealed shut. Officers opened the traps and released about 1,400 crabs back into the ocean before either destroying or keeping them to be auctioned off at a later date, DFO spokesperson Leri Davies said in an emailed statement.
Many of the traps are thought to be ‘ghost gear’ — fishing gear lost or left behind that continues to catch and kill marine life.
Davies said fishery officers will work to identify “the perpetrators” through an examination of the seized gear, a third of which were found with commercial and communal fishing tags. That's a problem because commercial harvesters are required to report lost fishing gear to Canadian federal authorities.
“Charges may follow,” Davies said.
The latest patrol is one of several carried out every year to retrieve lost, abandoned or illegally set gear, said Davies.
Some of the gear fishery officers find lacks proper identifying floats or markings. Other fishing traps can be deemed out of compliance if they don’t have escape mechanisms that eventually allow creatures to break free should traps get lost or drift into prohibited areas.
Anyone with information on suspicious or potentially illegal fishing activities is urged to call Fisheries and Oceans Canada at 1-800-465-4336, or send an email to DFO.ORR-ONS.MPO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca.
