Judge orders B.C. man pinched for illegal crabbing to pay $160K, criticizes 'weak' enforcement

A Surrey provincial court judge was highly critical in her sentencing of an experienced crabber who pleaded guilty to fishing offences and of the "weak" enforcement system allowing such crimes to be committed.

Last month, Hoan Trung Do pleaded guilty to four fishing offences in Boundary Bay, near the Canada-U.S. border between B.C. and Washington State: fishing with more than 150 crab traps in 2018 and 2019, violating his licence; and fishing in U.S. waters in 2019 and 2020.

"The offences to which Mr. Do has entered guilty pleas are serious," Surrey Provincial Court Judge Kimberley Arthur-Leung stated in her decision.

"Not only have his actions diminished the crab stock in … Boundary Bay, but his actions jeopardize the joint co-operation between the Canadian and United States government in terms of jurisdiction, and joint preservation, and maintenance of crab stocks."

Do, master of a ship called Bounty Hunter, was fined $160,000 for the four offences, which Arthur-Leung called a "significant" amount. He also had to forfeit 10 crab traps.

Arthur-Leung called Do an experienced fisherman, having been at it since 1999. He knew the rules, she said, but was motivated to gain "economic advantage over law-abiding fishers." It was also not Do's first offence.

"He should have and ought to have known better," Arthur-Leung said. 

"Weak enforcement and a lack of enforcement officers should not be capitalized upon by any fisher."

In her sentencing reasons, Arthur-Leung was also critical of official efforts to stop fishers taking more than their share from Boundary Bay.

'Honour system is failing'

Do, she said, noticed other crabbers breaking fishing rules. He even reported this to authorities but said nothing was done. 

"With poor judgment, Mr. Do believed that it was similarly okay for him to do the same thing and on multiple occasions," the judge said. "Mr. Do knowingly took advantage of the frailties of the system. That is aggravating."

She said courts have frequently expressed concern about understaffed conservation officers and too-little monitoring of fisheries which leads to a "dangerous" reliance on an honour system.

"Regrettably, the honour system is failing," she said.

That means economic disadvantage to fishers obeying the law, she said, and ecological damage to "fragile" Boundary Bay. 

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) does make some enforcement efforts on Boundary Bay waters, including sting operations. It has said that illegally caught crabs may end up sold via backchannels, especially around Christmas and Lunar New Year.

Differences in crabbing season in the U.S. and Canada motivate some Canadian fishers to cross into American waters, a DFO supervisor said in 2020.

Arthur-Leung cited Do's remorse and guilty plea as mitigating factors in the sentencing. He was given three years to pay the fine.