Repeat illegal fishing offences land B.C. man in jail again

A commercialfisherman who sold up to $100,000 in illegally-acquired crab and halibut has been given a rare sentence of21 days in jail for breaching his probation conditions.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada says Scott Steer was arrested at sea on April 10 for "failing to comply with a court order banning him from being on any vessel other than BCFerries."

JimRobson, the department'sacting area chief for the South Coast, saidSteer was apprehended at sea with the help ofmembers of the Canadian Coast Guard while he was en route to crab fishing grounds.

He said Steer has a "considerable list of violations."

"The disturbing part about this is the repeat nature of the offences," Robson said.

The DFO said this is Steer's third jail term and that he was previously sentenced for various violations of "highvolume, commercial quantities" ofunauthorized crab and fishsales, each of them worth thousands of dollars.

Rare sentence

Robson said it's "quite rare" for people to be put in jail for fishing violations.

"I've beenanofficerin the field for over 25 years, and I know of about half a dozenindividualswho have been jailed for fisheries offences," he said.

Steer acquired his stock mostly in the lower FraserRiver and the Strait of Georgia, but Robson said Steerhas fished illegally on the West Coast of Vancouver Island as well.

"The impact obviously of concern to us is the conservation of the crab resource," Robson said, adding that other concerns includedisruption to commercial fisheries and to other users like First Nations groups.

The prolific fisherman sold his illegally-acquired stock to vendors and commercial fisheries, Robson said, and possiblyto individuals as well.

Robson reminded people buying seafood they should only do so from a licensedestablishment.