Fishing boat owners fined for illegal tuna catch off Vancouver Island

The owners of a commercial fishing boat have been fined $6,000 after the vessel was caught with more than 30,000 pounds of illegally caught tuna off Vancouver Island last summer.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada says the vessel Ocean Provider was boarded by officers approximately 42 nautical miles off Barkley Sound, near Bamfield.
The fisheries officers were conducting a routine inspection when they discovered 2,250 albacore tuna – totalling approximately 14,495 kilograms – on board.
The vessel was escorted back to port by fisheries officers on the Canadian Coast Guard vessel Tanu.
The tuna, which the agency valued at $127,824, had been harvested despite the crew not being licensed to fish for tuna, the DFO said in a statement Wednesday.
The catch was seized and the vessel's owners pleaded guilty in court to fishing for albacore tuna without a licence between July 22 and Aug. 15, 2022.
A Port Alberni provincial court judge fined the owners on June 28 and upheld the seizure and forfeiture of the tuna.
The DFO asks anyone with information about illegal fishing in B.C. to call the agency's Pacific region reporting line 1-800-465-4336, or email details to DFO.ORR-ONS.MPO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Henry Kissinger, secretary of state under Presidents Nixon and Ford, dies at 100
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, the diplomat with the thick glasses and gravelly voice who dominated foreign policy as the United States extricated itself from Vietnam and broke down barriers with China, died Wednesday, his consulting firm said. He was 100.
Ontario doctors disciplined over Israel-Gaza protests
A number of doctors are facing scrutiny for publicizing their opinions on the Israel-Hamas war. Critics say expressing their political views could impact patient care, while others say that it is being used as an excuse for censorship.
Here is what Canada's drug shortage situation looks like right now
Compared to the peak pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, Canada experienced an uptick in prescription drug shortages in 2022 that Health Canada says has continued throughout 2023.
Annual Lego exhibit in Halifax inspires new generation of builders
Owen Grace has spent the last 20 years sharing his childhood hobby, Lego, through an exhibit he calls, 'Bricks by the Sea.'
'No concessions' St-Onge says in $100M a year news deal with Google
The Canadian government has reached a deal with Google over the Online News Act that will see the tech giant pay $100 million annually to publishers, and continue to allow access to Canadian news content on its platform. This comes after Google had threatened to block news on its platform when the contentious new rules come into effect next month.
'We wish we could've reached that kid earlier,' says online educator about boy's suicide after apparent sextortion
The chat may seem innocuous at first. The victims, often young men or boys, start communicating with someone posing as a young girl, typically on the popular social media platforms Instagram and Snapchat. But with sextortion, which occurs when people are blackmailed for money or sexual favours, 'sextorters' convince them to share a sexual photo or video.
Live updates Hamas frees 10 Israeli women and children, 4 Thai nationals
Ten Israeli women and children and four Thai nationals held captive in Gaza were freed by Hamas, and Israel followed with the release of a group of Palestinian prisoners Thursday. It was the latest exchange of hostages for prisoners under a temporary ceasefire in the Gaza war. Two Russian-Israeli women were also freed by Hamas in a separate release.
Provinces are moving away from pap smears, but more infrastructure is needed
Some provinces are moving to HPV tests as the primary mode of cervical cancer screening, and others are close behind, an expert says.
opinion Don Martin: With Trudeau resignation fever rising, a Conservative nightmare appears
With speculation rising that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will follow his father's footsteps in the snow to a pre-election resignation, political columnist Don Martin focuses on one Liberal cabinet minister who's emerging as leadership material -- and who stands out as a fresh-faced contrast to the often 'angry and abrasive' leader of the Conservatives.