A BC Company has received a hefty fine from Fisheries and Oceans Canada after one of their vessels was caught illegally fishing off the coast of Vancouver Island.
The boat, named Ocean Provider, was stopped for a routine fishery inspection in Barkley Sound, just 80 kilometres north of Bamfield.
Over 31,000 lbs. of albacore tuna were seized after it was determined that the vessel wasn’t licensed to fish for tuna. According to the DFO, the crew was fishing when they boarded the Ocean Provider.
The owner of the Ocean Provider pleaded guilty to fishing without a license and was sentenced in the Port Alberni Provincial court in June and was fined $6,000.
In total, over $125,000 of tuna was forfeited to the crown.
