2009 Convictions

The Ministry of Natural Resources laid charges during enforcement patrols in Huron County over the April 17-19 weekend. The blitz focused on unlawful angling activity in sanctuaries.  The areas targeted were the Nine Mile River in Port Albert, the Bayfield River in Bayfield and the Maitland River at Falls Reserve Conservation Authority.

Conservation officers contacted 21 people, laid 10 charges and issued one warning.

The violations included:

• Unlawfully fishing in a sanctuary
• Unlawfully angling with more than one fishing line
• Failing to produce fishing licence
• Consuming liquor in a public place.

The public is reminded that all fishing in a sanctuary is unlawful.  Sanctuaries are in place to protect species and to ensure that species such as rainbow trout can reproduce with minimal human contact.

The Ministry of Natural Resources laid 18 charges and issued 54 warnings during a fishing enforcement blitz on lakes in the Barry’s Bay area of Renfrew County and Nipissing District in March.

Conservation officers from Pembroke and Bancroft districts involved in the enforcement effort found that 24 per cent of the anglers checked were in violation of a statute or regulation.

A ministry canine unit was used to track down an angler who attempted to evade officers involved in the blitz. The suspect was found and apprehended with the help of the Killaloe detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police.

Offences that resulted in charges and warnings include:

• Fishing without licence
• Fishing with too many lines
• Fishing with set lines
• Failing to produce licence
• Having open containers of liquor
• Failing to wear helmet on A.T.V.
• Operate A.T.V. no insurance
• Possess live bait in specified waters
• Use live bait in Provincial Park
• Obstruct conservation officer
• Catch and retain fish out of season

A Cobalt area man has lost all of his Ontario hunting privileges for three years after pleading guilty to shooting and abandoning a lynx.

The man was convicted of illegally hunting a furbearing mammal and abandoning the pelt. 

Court was told that on November 1, 2008, the man was driving on Portage Bay Road in Coleman Township when he saw a family of five lynx.  Four of the lynx ran off, but one of the animals stayed on the edge of the road.  The man took a .410 shotgun from the trunk of his car and shot the lynx, killing it instantly.  He then pushed the carcass of the lynx into the ditch and left.

The case was heard by Justice of the Peace in the Ontario Court of Justice, Temiskaming Shores, on March 26, 2009.

Lynx are classified as furbearing mammals and are protected under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act.  Only licensed trappers may harvest lynx under a strict quota system.  Lynx are generally quiet, docile animals that pose no threat to humans.

Two Scarborough men were fined a total of $5,500 for fishing while their fishing licences were suspended and for fishing during a closed season. 

The men both pleaded guilty to fishing for rainbow trout when the season was closed and to disobeying a court order prohibiting them from fishing. In addition to the fines, the two men had their fishing licences suspended for another two years.  They were also ordered to forfeit their fishing gear permanently.

The court heard that on the afternoon of October 22, 2008, during a routine patrol on Bowmanville Creek, Ministry of Natural Resources conservation officers from the Aurora District found the two men fishing for rainbow trout.

A company has been fined $10,000 for permitting the contravention of an aggregate licence site plan.

The company pleaded guilty to allowing the unlawful removal of a 30-metre treed setback on their licensed pit, in the former Township of Manvers, City of Kawartha Lakes. 

Court heard that the Ministry of Natural Resources conducted the investigation leading to the charges during the late fall of 2007 and early 2008.  Under the Aggregates Resources Act, licensed operators must adhere to site plan conditions set out by the ministry.

The court also issued a rehabilitation order for the site.  The ministry and the licensed company have worked co-operatively to develop a rehabilitation plan.

The case was heard in the Ontario Court of Justice in Lindsay on March 27, 2009.

The Ministry of Natural Resources laid 79 charges and issued 95 warnings during a joint enforcement blitz on Lake Simcoe with York Regional Police during the March 14-15 weekend.
 
Conservation officers from the Aurora and Midhurst districts teamed up with York Regional Police officers to check anglers on the ice and at access points.  Officers checked that anglers were complying with the law while fishing for species such as lake trout, whitefish and yellow perch. They also watched for invasive species being used as bait.  The officers checked 1,050 people.

Charges and warnings were issued for:

• Catching and keeping too many fish
• Catching fish out of season
• Fishing without a licence
• Failing to produce a licence
• Fishing with too many lines
• Transporting illegally caught fish.

Officers also laid charges against individuals for liquor offences, not wearing helmets and not having proper permits and insurance for snow machines and all-terrain vehicles.

The Ministry of Natural Resources laid 89 charges and issued 94 warnings during an enforcement blitz on Muskoka-area lakes during the March 14-15 weekend.

Conservation officers from the Parry Sound District and the ministry’s canine unit, along with officers of the Ontario Provincial Police SAVE team, checked anglers on the ice on lakes Rosseau, Joseph, Muskoka and Lake of Bays.

Offences that resulted in charges and warnings included:

• Fishing without a licence
• Failing to produce a licence
• Fishing with too many lines
• Fishing with set lines
• Occupying unnumbered ice fishing huts
• Failing to wear a helmet
• Having open containers of liquor
• Drug-related offences.

Conservation officers from Lake Erie and Aylmer Districts conducted numerous patrols on the ice-covered waters of Lake St. Clair, Lake Erie, Rondeau Bay and the Detroit River this winter to check for compliance with ice fishing and safety regulations.

In total, 760 resident anglers and 200 non-resident anglers were checked by conservation officers from early January until the last week in February.  Overall compliance with Ontario’s sport fishing and public safety related legislation was found to be 75 per cent.

A total of 76 charges and 168 warnings were issued for the following offences:

• Fishing without a licence
• Fishing with too many lines
• Being more than 60 metres away from fishing lines
• Fishing without a licence on your person
• Failing to produce a fishing licence
• Failing to wear a helmet on an off-road vehicle and snowmobile
• Having liquor in an open container.

Investigations are still ongoing and additional charges are pending.

Warnings were issued for:

• Failing to register an ice fishing hut
• Trespassing for the purpose of fishing
• Failing to have insurance for off-road vehicles and snowmobiles
• Driving an off-road vehicle and snowmobile without a permit.

With the open water season just around the corner, conservation officers will continue patrolling local waterways.  Anglers and pleasure boaters are reminded to be sure they have the required safety gear on board.

Over 400 people were contacted and many infractions were encountered during the blitz.

Charges and warnings were issued for the following offences:

• over-limits of lake trout
• angling without a licence
• extra lines
• consuming liquor out of residence
• being too far away from fishing lines
• not possessing a fishing licence while angling
• not wearing a proper helmet while snowmobiling.

Anglers are reminded to have all valid licences required, to show to a conservation officer, if asked, and to transport fish in such a way that they can be easily identified, measured and counted.

Two local residents have been fined a total of $11,000 for shooting a bull moose when they were only licensed to hunt a calf moose.

A man from Burks Falls, pleaded guilty to shooting the bull moose and was fined $10,000, forfeited his rifle, had his licence suspended for three years.  He is also required to take a hunter safety course prior to the reinstatement of his hunting privileges. 

A second man from Powassan, pleaded guilty to obstructing a conservation officer and was fined $1,000.

Court heard that on the opening day of the 2007 local moose hunt, conservation officers were informed of a possible illegally killed bull moose.  During the investigation, both men denied any involvement with the shooting of a moose. 

Eventually the officers were able to determine that the man from Burks Falls had shot a bull moose and asked a local Métis harvester to claim the animal under his rights.

The case was heard in the Ontario Court of Justice, Parry Sound, on March 19, 2009.