A Richmond seafood company was fined over $110,000 for obstructing DFO fishery officers in the performance of their duties.
The Honourable Judge Bonnie Craig found Tenshi Seafood Limited, and its co-owner, Dishi Liu, guilty of violations of Canada’s Fisheries Act.
The Court ordered the fish processing company to pay a fine of $75,000, plus provide the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada with a list of its customers from the past 2 years.
The charges stem from a routine inspection on September 8, 2018, by a DFO fishery officer from the Steveston Detachment.
Tenshi Seafood Limited is a well-established million dollar crab processing, distribution and exporting plant. On arrival at the facility, the officer observed a man running from the building and speeding away with what looked like a crab crate in the back of his vehicle.
Once inside the plant, the owner and some staff actively obstructed the fishery officer from conducting an inspection.
They would not answer questions, failed to provide the necessary paperwork, weights or volume figures from the previous sale, and attempted to destroy evidence.
Several undersized crabs were found discarded in the processing plant.
Besides the fines, the company was also ordered to publish a letter addressing its customers and setting out the facts related to the commission of the offences they were found guilty of.
Justice Craig also ordered the owner Liu to pay another fine of $25,000.
Thuong Nguyen, master of the commercial fishing vessel Dream Chaser, was also found guilty for also obstructing a fishery officer and was fined $10,000.
Rick Raynsford says
Have noticed lately that the courts have been levelling some hefty fines concerning fisheries violation which is a good practice.
Barb says
With a million dollar a year profit I think that the fines are not strict enough.