Included below are two concluded court cases from the "online" officer's notebook. If you would like to read all the wildlife and fisheries investigations and the final outcome of the court cases be sure to pick up your Alberta Game Warden magazine at your favorite bookstore. Or better yet, purchase a yearly subscription so you won't miss an issue. |
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Illegal fishing: Foremost District As part of a new walleye management regime, five new reservoirs in southern Alberta were opened up to allow anglers more fishing opportunities. Because these five reservoirs are classified as being newly constructed water bodies or a water bodies vulnerable for fish stocks, the law allows the keeping of one walleye 55cm or larger. One of these five reservoirs is 40-Mile Dam. Due to a large number of infractions detected on 40-Mile Dam, a Fish and Wildlife officer from Foremost spent considerable time patrolling the reservoir. The majority of infractions he encountered were over-limits of walleye, possession of undersized walleye and licensing offences. On Sept. 7, 2005, Fredick Guss, 29, of Redcliff, and Scott Sinclair, 35, of Salmon Arm, BC, were discovered on the spillway with one walleye each measuring under 55cm. Both were fishing without a valid sportfishing licence. Guss was also issued a warning for fishing with barbed hooks. Each was fined two hundred twenty dollars. Another case involved two Medicine Hat men who were checked on 40-Mile Dam fishing from a boat. On Sept. 17, 2005, Franklin Nesbitt, 61, and Stanley Dreilich, 53, were caught with five walleye in their live well, all under 55cm. It couldn't be determined as to how many fish each caught, therefore, both were charged for the five fish under the legal size limit and were fined two hundred dollars. All of the fish except one were able to be returned back to the water. Warnings were issued for other offences found in the boat.
Out-of-province poachers convicted: Provost District Five people from Quebec entered guilty pleas in Alberta Provincial Court in Wainwright to breaking provincial and federal wildlife regulations. On February 2, the court fined the five people a total of $26,750, and barred each individual from hunting in Alberta for five years. "Poaching and other wildlife crimes are simply not tolerated in Alberta," said David Coutts, Minister of Sustainable Resource Development. "The provincial Wildlife Act helps ensure that the values Albertans receive from wild species are sustained and enhanced for future generations." The five Quebec residents pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of wildlife, wasting the edible meat of a big game animal, transporting illegally taken game across provincial boundaries and obtaining hunting licences when ineligible. The offences involved white-tailed deer and mule deer. Only the antlers had been taken in most instances, not the carcasses. These convictions were the result of an investigation by the Fish and Wildlife Division of Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, with assistance from the Wildlife Enforcement Division of Environment Canada, Quebec Region – based on detailed information originally supplied by wildlife officers in Saskatchewan. The hunting offences first came to light in November 2003, when wildlife officers in Saskatchewan intercepted Quebec residents poaching deer in that province and learned they were also operating in the Provost area of Alberta. After receiving this information, wildlife officers in Alberta began an investigation and determined that an organized network of poachers from Quebec was operating in Alberta. Officers used a variety of methods to gather evidence, including forensic analysis by the Edmonton Police Service of photographs the poachers had in their possession, and DNA analysis of wildlife parts by Alberta's Fish and Wildlife Forensic Lab. It became evident that deer parts the poachers were found to have in Saskatchewan had actually been obtained at various locations in Alberta. Environment Canada officers in Quebec assisted with taking statements and gathering intelligence, helping bring this case to a successful conclusion.
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