Dogbreath
Well-Known Member
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/serv...ABALONE20/TPStory/TPNational/BritishColumbia/
Record penalties ordered for abalone poachers
VICTORIA</u> -- The stiffest penalties for abalone poaching in B.C. history were handed down in Prince Rupert on Wednesday to three men caught with 11,000 abalone in February, 2006.
Each poacher received a conditional sentence with house arrest, a new form of punishment for robbing B.C. waters of this threatened species.
Michael McNeill faces a 12-month conditional sentence with six months house arrest, a five-year scuba-diving prohibition and $20,000 in fines. He also forfeits his truck, boat and equipment used during the crime, valued at $143,000. His younger brother, Daniel McNeill, and Randall Graff each received four-month conditional sentences, with three months of house arrest, two-year diving bans, $10,000 fines, and 80 hours of community work involving presentations on abalone conservation. They also forfeit $4,000 worth of equipment.
The men were caught with the largest abalone heist ever seized by federal fisheries officers.
The creatures, hidden under tarp, weighed down the back of Michael McNeill's Ford F-150 pickup truck. The men were apprehended leaving Port Edward, near Prince Rupert, on their way to Vancouver to sell the dying abalone.
Last month, the three men pleaded guilty to crimes under both the Fisheries Act and Canada's four-year-old Species at Risk Act or SARA. They are the first abalone poachers convicted under SARA. With the combined penalties, the three men could have received $750,000 fines.
The McNeill brothers were also facing a maximum seven years in jail because of previous fisheries violations. Mr. Graff faced a maximum five-year jail term.
Northern abalone is considered a threatened species in Canada
Record penalties ordered for abalone poachers
VICTORIA</u> -- The stiffest penalties for abalone poaching in B.C. history were handed down in Prince Rupert on Wednesday to three men caught with 11,000 abalone in February, 2006.
Each poacher received a conditional sentence with house arrest, a new form of punishment for robbing B.C. waters of this threatened species.
Michael McNeill faces a 12-month conditional sentence with six months house arrest, a five-year scuba-diving prohibition and $20,000 in fines. He also forfeits his truck, boat and equipment used during the crime, valued at $143,000. His younger brother, Daniel McNeill, and Randall Graff each received four-month conditional sentences, with three months of house arrest, two-year diving bans, $10,000 fines, and 80 hours of community work involving presentations on abalone conservation. They also forfeit $4,000 worth of equipment.
The men were caught with the largest abalone heist ever seized by federal fisheries officers.
The creatures, hidden under tarp, weighed down the back of Michael McNeill's Ford F-150 pickup truck. The men were apprehended leaving Port Edward, near Prince Rupert, on their way to Vancouver to sell the dying abalone.
Last month, the three men pleaded guilty to crimes under both the Fisheries Act and Canada's four-year-old Species at Risk Act or SARA. They are the first abalone poachers convicted under SARA. With the combined penalties, the three men could have received $750,000 fines.
The McNeill brothers were also facing a maximum seven years in jail because of previous fisheries violations. Mr. Graff faced a maximum five-year jail term.
Northern abalone is considered a threatened species in Canada
