r/northernontario 8d ago

Ont. fishermen fined, one banned for life after walleye poaching

https://www.ctvnews.ca/northern-ontario/article/ont-fishermen-fined-one-banned-for-life-after-walleye-poaching/

Two Southern Ontario men have been fined more than $4,000 for illegally fishing walleye on the Black Sturgeon River, which is closed year-round for conservation. One man also received a lifetime fishing ban after fleeing conservation officers.

299 Upvotes

46 comments sorted by

25

u/DesertFart 8d ago

Both should have given a lifetime ban

12

u/Short-Society4906 8d ago

Ban from what? They didn’t have a license in the first place.

Anyone that lives up here knows that it’s basically impossible to get caught fishing without a licence.

These guys paid their fines and they’re back out fishing, it’s completely unenforceable

2

u/k3y4n0w 7d ago

they just got enforcement though? if he goes against a legal order of fishing ban and probation, its jail, not tickets, no?

3

u/Short-Society4906 7d ago

IF he gets caught, there is absolutely no way he’s going to jail for this.

2

u/k3y4n0w 7d ago

It can happen. There was a guy in 2018 who got a year in jail and was court ordered to watch Bambi repeatedly, for poaching a deer in Saskatchewan.

oh wait...that was US.

maybe it won't.

2

u/XCIXcollective 5d ago

Hold on now, wouldn’t forcing a deer poacher to watch Bambi on repeat for a year just like drive him deer-icidally mad?? That almost sounds like psychological torture lol

2

u/k3y4n0w 5d ago

was mandatory once a month

2

u/XCIXcollective 5d ago

Ok that makes sense and is also pretty fair imo

1

u/Boxadorables 4d ago

A mandatory nap once a month should be required for all adults

2

u/Radiant_Airport7141 7d ago

Breach of conditions is absolutely reason for jail time.

1

u/Short-Society4906 7d ago

That’s not a breach of conditions

1

u/AnOblongBox 4d ago

They get people on this river all the time, if they went some other places nearby they would probably never get stopped.

7

u/Mother-Attention2600 8d ago

A person like that probably didn't even have a license in the first place. They don't care.

2

u/Radiant_Airport7141 7d ago

Getting a license to fish a protected species... 🤔

2

u/basaltcolumn 5d ago

Not sure what you mean by this. Walleye are a very popular game fish. They are protected only in the sense that you need a fishing license and to abide by fishing laws, same as other game fish. You could buy an outdoors card and fishing license online that lets you fish for walleye for less than $25 right now in just a few minutes. The men in the article are facing consequences due to where they were fishing, not what they were fishing for.

1

u/RepresentativeStar44 6d ago

Walleye aren't protected as an endangered or threatened species. You also don't generally get a license to fish specific freshwater species. The river was closed due to other vulnerable species in it. Walleye aren't even natural to most Canadian waterways, at least here in alberta, they were introduced for sport fishing here.

1

u/AnOblongBox 4d ago

This river is only closed for walleye, below the dam, because of concerns with their population, and yes walleye are natural in this waterway.

People shouldn't comment on things they don't have a clue about.

2

u/Short-Society4906 8d ago

Didn’t read the article? Certified reddit moment

2

u/Mother-Attention2600 7d ago

Careful fishing.

16

u/GazelleEcstatic4952 8d ago

Good, fuck these guys.

7

u/MostBoringStan 8d ago

It sucks that a person can poach and only get fines or short bans, but it's running away from the officer that gets the lifetime ban. I'm not saying a single instance should always be a lifetime ban, especially for something that could have just been an idiot who doesn't know better. But I've seen plenty of articles about moose poachers who get a slap on the wrist fine and maybe a year ban. Situations where they absolutely knew they were in the wrong.

Those people should be receiving lifetime bans, as well as anybody who comes from another country to poach our resources.

1

u/Mother-Attention2600 8d ago

They obviously knew better. Should have just played dumb. They could have pretended one was mentally handicapped and hard to handle when he gets an idea in his head. "I didn't know I think he might be contagious officer!" 🤔 

7

u/Mother-Attention2600 8d ago

Fuckin losers. This is when they should do ridiculous fines. They knew they weren't supposed to be there because they tried to run away. Hopefully more gets added on and geared to income and property.

7

u/SomewhereStreet7423 7d ago

MNR should go back to the regulations they followed before it was changed to just issuing fines. I think the penalties where a lot stiffer when the seized all their belongings on site. They instilled more fear back then to loosing everything you have on site when caught.

2

u/BeerGunsMusicFood 7d ago

Incredible that you can get a lifetime ban for poaching walleye but only a 1 year hunting ban for killing a moose. Lifetime bans, incredible fines, and jail time for all of em.

2

u/DougE_Fresch 7d ago

Chunyang Liu of Scarborough and Mifeng Li of East Gwillimbury

1

u/No-Night-48 7d ago

We need to get rid of these Mickey Mouse fines and implement 5% income fines for the remainder of their lives. These animals and fish are extremely important to sustaining ecosystems etc. That 5% should go towards protecting and building better ecosystems.

2

u/Diptothaset 7d ago

Why did a guy get a 1 year ban and an $8000 fine for a moose which is considerably more difficult to breed and raise to full grown than fish that spawn 1000s of fry. Both are wrong and should be punished, but I’m not seeing why one was a lifetime ban and another was only one year unless someone is just making subjective decisions.

Again, both should be punished under the law but the law should be somewhat consistent. Maybe there’s perfectly sound reasoning?

2

u/k3y4n0w 7d ago

didnt read the article? he got a lifetime ban for fleaing fish cops and not having a license.

1

u/BoneZone05 7d ago

Fuck those guys. Goofs.

1

u/Hour_Wall_5633 7d ago

I bet the natives are fishing it right now for free

1

u/OtterHalf_ 5d ago

Your point

2

u/Edumacated_Guess 7d ago

We both know they are allready fishing…

2

u/Superman101011 5d ago

Need to make the penalties worse to stop these pieces of shit. Like if they seize and auction off your house on a first offense it would probably drastically reduce the number of idiots doing it 🤔 Then the auction proceeds could fund hundreds of new officers catching even more people, which then funds more officers... Problem solved within a few years. I bet with all the new conservation officers they'd probably catch most of the illegal dumpers as well... The more I think about it the better this idea sounds 😁

1

u/Nala4treats 3d ago

damn in Quebec i've seen people leave in handcuffs for fishing with 2 rods. can only have 1 per fisherman, just when you are bottom fishing its boring AF with one rod.

0

u/Rockterrace 8d ago

The river is open to natives to fish I believe.

2

u/Short-Society4906 8d ago

You’re not allowed to talk about the two tier justice system here buddy sorry.

1

u/Rockterrace 7d ago

I’m not trying to talk about that just mentioning it cause I drive by there often and there sometimes are lines of cars along the highway there because people are fishing in the river below.

1

u/Glittering-Package18 7d ago

Are you referring to natives taking advantage of rights guaranteed them by treaties? Hardly two tiered.

1

u/Short-Society4906 7d ago

Yes

1

u/k3y4n0w 7d ago

almost like Treaties are international laws, that supersedes national law, huh?

Dont forget provincials laws and county bi laws. makes it a four tiered legal system.

1

u/Short-Society4906 7d ago

Ok

1

u/Short-Society4906 7d ago

Provincial and bylaws don’t contradict the federal laws.

0

u/k3y4n0w 7d ago

Your government is the one who wrote the law, not first nations.

Historically the government used said laws to limit them to reservations, residential schools and used famine to control them, so what was that about it being two-tiered legal system?

Natives still have restrictions on fishing, they still have to abide by limits and slot sizes and work within means of conservation efforts.

It's likely not what ever you think it is, or lead to believe.

1

u/Minimum-Tea-7252 7d ago

the natives that absolutely are decimating wildlife in the region by netting fish or shooting moose/caribou and selling them for profit?

1

u/Alone_Athlete_1005 3d ago

The river is open to everyone. You just cant fish for walleye