Court rules fine can't be paid with fish proceeds
Total of $460.74 forfeited to government, $500 fine still stands
Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Monday, January 11, 2016
HAY RIVER
A justice of the Supreme Court of the NWT has upheld an appeal objecting to how a $500 fine was paid in a 2013 case involving a Hay River fisher.
The Crown appealed because the fine was mostly paid by the proceeds when seized fish were sold for $460.74.
In an appeal heard on March 3 of this year in the Supreme Court, the appellant - the Public Prosecution Service of Canada - argued the sentencing judge erred in law by ordering the proceeds of illegally caught fish to be applied to the fine.
It also argued the fine was too low.
In a written decision released on Dec. 11, Justice Shannon Smallwood ruled the seizure of the fish was mandatory under the Fisheries Act.
"Therefore, the sentence appeal is allowed and the sentence is hereby varied so that the proceeds of the sale of the fish, $460.74, are forfeited to Her Majesty the Queen," she wrote.
However, she rejected the appeal that the fines for two offences - fishing in a closed area and not properly completing a logbook - were too low.
"The fines imposed on count (one) and (two) are otherwise reasonable in the circumstances and I see no reason to interfere with the amounts imposed by the sentencing judge," wrote Smallwood.
According to details of the case as described in the appeal decision, Hay River fisher Nancy Michel was observed fishing on Great Slave Lake on Sept. 21, 2013, in an area that was closed to fishing.
Upon arrival at the fish plant in Hay River, nine tubs of fish were seized by fisheries officers. The seized fish were sold to the fish plant to prevent wastage and the proceeds of $460.74 were sent to the Receiver General of Canada.
The officers also noted the fisher's logbook had not been completed accurately on many occasions.
On March 18, 2014, the fisher pleaded guilty to two offences under the Fisheries Act for fishing in a closed area and not properly completing a logbook.
The sentencing judge imposed a $500 fine for fishing in a closed area and a $150 fine for not properly completing the logbook.
