Fisheries officials seize 316 Canadian crab traps set in U.S. water as part of annual sting

Officials from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans have seized 316 crab traps they claim were illegally set in U.S. water this month, as part of an annual enforcement operation coordinated with their American counterparts.

Art Demsky, field office supervisor with the DFO'sconservation and protection detachment, was on the water on the first day of the operation, Sept. 11. He said the conditions were very smokey, with low visibility that made it challenging to catch the fishers crossing the boundary.

Demsky said the traps they seized, along with four vessels fromthe 24-boat Boundary Bay dungeness crab fishing fleet, may only representhalf of the number of infractionsof fishery laws.

"All these vessels have GPS, they know they're fishing over the boundary they just push the line because there's more crab on the other side of that line," he said.

The Canadian crab season begins in July, while the U.S. season begins in November. Demsky said that toward the end of the Canadian season, fishers will risk fines and forfeitures to reachuntapped crab stocks south of the border.

"You have people who push the envelope because it may be worth it for them to do that if they don't get caught, because there's money in crab there's good money in crab," he said. "Sometimes getting caught and getting fines may be the price of doing business."

Demsky estimates each set of gear including a trap, float, ropes andradio frequency IDchipwould cost about $500 to replace. DFO will seek the forfeiture of all of them, and the courts will decide whether the fishers will face fines, the loss of their fishing license or vessels. The fines are oftenseveral thousand dollars, but can to go amaximum of $500,000 for a first-time offender, according to Demsky.

He said in the past,the fishers have lost all the gear seized, and most of them have pleaded guilty. The fleet is electronically monitored, so location data can be reviewed after the fact. The traps will either be destroyed, or become Crown assets sold back to the fishers at auction.

Demsky said the crab fishery isn't necessarily a high-priority for enforcement, but because it's a border issue, they take it seriously.

"We want to make sure that that border remains something that's not disputed and doesn't result in more confrontation," he said.

Do you have more to add to this story? Email rafferty.baker@cbc.ca

Follow Rafferty Baker on Twitter: @raffertybaker