Wheatley captain fined $7,200 for fish violations on Lake Erie
A Wheatley commercial fisherman has been fined $7,200 for letting fish spoil and declaring inaccurate weights for his daily catches, while on Lake Erie.
Investigating the boat Teresa Maria last summer, a conservation officer discovered Bobby Cabral allowed more than 4,800 kilograms of smelt to spoil because he did not have enough ice, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources.
Cabral was trawling out of Port Dover at the time. He was handed down a $6,000 fine for this one infraction. The second infraction will cost him $1,200.
The ministry's news release states Cabral was trawling out of the Port of Erieau between early August and early September when he failed to declare accurate smelt weights on six separate days.
"Over those six days there was a total difference of 5,934 kilograms between the declared weight and the actual weight of fish caught," the news release states.
Justice of the Peace Catherine Woron heard the case in the Ontario Court of Justice in Simcoe on April 13.
