Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) says it has seized tens of thousands of pounds of tuna from a Canadian commercial fishing vessel that was illegally catching fish off Vancouver Island.
The fishing took place between July 22 and August 15, 2022 on the west coast of Vancouver Island, near Bamfield, approximately 42 nautical miles offshore of Barkley Sound.
According to the DFO, the Canadian Coast Guard vessel Tanu spotted the commercial fishing vessel Ocean Provider while the Tanu was conducting a routine patrol in the area.
Officers then boarded the Ocean Provider and discovered that the vessel was not licensed to fish for tuna at the time.
The Coast Guard then escorted the Ocean Provider back to shore, where thousands of tuna were offloaded and confiscated.
According to the DFO, a total of 2,250 tuna weighing a total of approximately 31,956 pounds were seized from the vessel.
The total value of the fish was $127,824, according to Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
RELATED: 4 fishermen fined a total of $17,000 for fishing violations near Galiano Island: DFO
On June 28, 2023, the BC company that owned Ocean Provider pleaded guilty in Port Alberni Provincial Court to fishing for albacore tuna without a valid license.
The company was fined $6,000 and a judge upheld the DFO’s earlier seizure of the fish.
“Excessive and illegal harvesting threatens conservation,” the DFO said in a news release Wednesday.
“It could also lead to management changes or closures, reduce the fisheries’ significant economic benefits to coastal communities, recreational fisheries and commercial harvesters, and threaten Indigenous people’s food sources.”
Anyone who spots someone violating Canada’s Fisheries Act is asked to call the DFO Pacific Region’s toll-free violation reporting line at 1-800-465-4336 or email DFO.ORR-ONS.MPO@dfo- mpo.gc.ca.
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