Federal fisheries officers descended in force to raid a sustainable seafood company in Vancouver Friday afternoon, seizing the catch of an Indigenous fish harvester and alleging it was illegally caught.
“We’ve provided all the documents they asked for. Now they are looking through files that aren’t in any way related to the case.” The harvester, who’s been fishing and working with the company for years without problems, reportedly went fishing from April 28 and 29 after his licence request was submitted four days earlier and completing payments and other necessary bureaucratic tasks, Strobel said.
It wasn’t until May 5, when a DFO enforcement officer called the company to hold the fish for seizure that Skipper Otto became aware there was an issue, Strobel said, adding the company isn’t responsible for verifying a licence before purchasing a catch. Canada’s National Observer has confirmed the details outlined above with the fish harvester and the Namgis licensing department.
“It clearly is an administrative error, but [enforcement] is holding the line that the date on the licence doesn’t match the date the fish were caught — therefore, it’s illegal,” she said, adding officers on scene wouldn’t give her any additional information.
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