VANCOUVER -- Fisheries and Oceans Canada says the master of a commercial fishing vessel has been found guilty of fishing lingcod in a closed, culturally significant area off the coast of the Haida Gwaii islands.

The department says the area was inside a designated national park reserve, marine conservation area reserve and Haida heritage site.

Silas Miro Levesque pleaded guilty in February and has been ordered to pay $20,000 dollars for violations of the Fisheries Act that occurred between late October 2018 and the following May.

The judge ordered Levesque pay an additional $25,000 towards the conservation and protection of fish and fish habitat around Haida Gwaii.