What the province wants you to know about beach rules this summer

The province's manager of investigation and enforcement wants to is reminding Islanders and visitors of the rules around vehicles on beaches.

Wade MacKinnon says his office received complaints about damage to the Beach Point beach and dunes in early May.

He says a man called saying he had taken a tractor with a bucket loader onto the beach, gathered sand above the high-tide line and hadn't used a proper access point, all of which are prohibited.

It's really sensitive this time of year when there's the potential to have nesting shore birds on the shore.- Wade MacKinnon, Justice and Public Safety

Instead of fining the man, MacKinnon said, they used the incident as a chance to educate.

"The individual expressed remorse, and thought he was within the law," he said.

However MacKinnon did say the department wouldn't hesitate to hand out fines in other circumstances.

"If we catch someone in the action, they are going to be charged. Period."

Protecting the ecosystem

Excavation has to be done by hand with shovels, must be done below the high-tide line and people have to use proper access points — not driving through private property or over the dunes.

MacKinnon says complaints about vehicles on beaches and dunes always ramp up this time of year, and he expects a dozen or so complaints for May. 

"It's really sensitive this time of year when there's the potential to have nesting shore birds on the shore," he said.

"So if people were wanting to get their sand I would recommend that they would have done it already, or wait til … at least late July."  

He says in other similar cases, fines up to a $1,000 have been handed out.

More P.E.I. news