Manitoba Natural Resources and Northern Development are reporting that conservation officers, through a variety of enforcement activities, have fined numerous individuals for illegal activities that occurred in 2020 and 2022.
On Nov. 4, 2020, conservation officers from the Carberry district conducted a patrol to target illegal night hunting. At approximately 12:55 a.m., officers observed a spotlight being used from a truck to illuminate privately owned fields near Holland. Officers stopped the vehicle and arrested an adult male from Brandon and a minor. The vehicle, spotlight, rifle, ammunition and a wild boar were seized and appearance notices were issued. On Jan. 24, the adult male was convicted of hunting at night, and given a $3,000 fine and one-year suspension of big game and game bird hunting privileges. All seizures, including the vehicle, were forfeited to the Crown. Charges against the minor were stayed.
On June 17, 2022, conservation officers from the Selkirk district were conducting fishing net checks on Lake Winnipeg. Officers located a set of three nets west of the Balsam Bay harbour with nearly 500 rotten fish unfit for human consumption. Thirty walleye and sauger were still alive and were released back into the lake by the officers. Another 496 fish, including 355 walleye and sauger, were not salvageable and had to be discarded. Officers photographed and seized the fish, nets, buoys and anchors. On Aug. 2, 2022, a Winnipeg man was charged under the Fisheries Act of Canada with leaving decayed fish in a net or other fishing apparatus and was convicted Feb. 3. The man was fined $5,000 and ordered to pay $18,396 in restitution for a total penalty of $23,396.
Anyone with information on illegal activity is asked to call a local Natural Resources and Northern Development office or the Turn in Poachers (TIP) line at 1-800-782-0076.
