Tag Archives: black market
Lobster pound owner fined $100K for offence stemming from DFO sting operation in 2017
In handing down the sentence, provincial court judge Tim Landry said the offence was “intentional illegal act” and rejected Zheng’s claim that it was an accident. “The accused in his defence at trial made mention that mistakes were made either by incompetent employees or language barriers,” Landry said in provincial court in Digby, N.S. “The evidence in my view overwhelmingly pointed to the fact that this was an intentional act. That fact in my view is an aggravating feature. The potential for lucrative profits obviously existed for the accused in this case. “The penalty cannot simply be the cost of doing business. The penalty has to be significant.” >click to read< 18:58
How Elver Eels Became America’s Hottest Black-Market Item
In the dark of the night, a group of fishermen huddles around a net. They’re gathered at a riverbank in Ellsworth, Maine, collecting one of the most lucrative seafood in the world: elvers, or baby glass eels. A 5-gallon bucket brimming with these translucent creatures is worth $32,500—higher than prices for gold. “It’s like Christmas!” exclaims Rick Sibley, one of the fishermen. “I can’t wait to see what’s in that net.” This would all come crashing down in 2014. Beginning in 2011, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Office of Law Enforcement—along with a long list of local, state, and federal agencies launched Operation Broken Glass, 15 minute video, >click to read< 12:12
Poor season drives a black market for crabs in Qld
Poor weather over summer has resulted in a lucrative black market for the sale of mud crabs in Queensland. Recreational fishermen have been caught taking to websites such as Facebook, eBay and Gumtree to illegally sell mud crabs for up to $50 to try to reap the benefits of a poor crabbing season. It comes as the Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol was preparing for a busy long weekend as thousands of people were taking to the water over the Easter break. Fishers and crabbers have also been found resorting to illegal activities such as keeping undersized and female mud crabs after a dry summer saw fewer mud crabs being caught in Queensland’s waterways. Earlier this year, a man was fined $3100 after pleading guilty to five crab-related offences, click here to continue reading 13:24
Illegal mud crab fishermen targeted as price reaches $70 a kilogram
Authorities warn of stern action against those caught illegally catching mud crabs in New South Wales. With the crustaceans selling at $70 a kilogram, it is proving a lucrative crime for those offloading onto the black market. The NSW Department of Primary Industries’ director of fisheries compliance Patrick Tully said the area of most concern was unlicensed fishermen. “It’s illegal, unregulated and unreported,” he said. “We’re concerned that there are people using too many crab traps, not marking them so they can’t be found, and then selling them on what’s essentially the black market.” “At $70 a kilo one crab could be more than $70, they can grow to quite big animals. “It’s what we used to call the ‘shamateur’ — not a licensed fisherman, not really a recreational fisherman, just that person in the middle who is exploiting the resource at the expense of others.” Read the story here 15:34
DFO POACHER PATROL Working Double Time on the Lower Fraser River
have doubled their patrols on the lower Fraser River to battle poachers who are illegally catching threatened sockeye salmon to sell into the black market. All fishing for sockeye has been shut down in response to a low run size and dangerously high river temperatures to ensure as many of the salmon get upriver to spawn as possible. more@richmondreview 17:52
