Overfishing in Lake Huron leads to 25 years of licence suspensions and $135K in fines

An Ontario conservation officer looks out at lake in this undated photo. (Source: Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry)

A fishing company and two of its boat captains are facing hefty fines and lengthy licence suspensions after conservation officers deemed them to be overfishing lake trout in Lake Huron.

According to a press release from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, Inland Sea Products was convicted of failing to accurately report the amount of fish caught under their commercial fishing licence and was subsequently fined $100,000.

Two men, who were employed as boat captains by Inland Sea products, were also convicted of the same offence during a separate case.

One of the men was fined $30,000 and is prohibited from participating in commercial fishing for 20 years, while the second man was fined $5,000 and is prohibited from participating in commercial fishing for five years.

Conservation officers first began their investigation following an audit of catch reports submitted by commercial fishers from Lake Huron. The investigation revealed that the two men, while operating under a fishing licence granted to Inland Sea Products, had reached their annual lake trout quota in 2017, but failed to report their lake trout catches, all the while continuing to fish for lake trout throughout the year.

The case against Inland Sea Products was heard at the Ontario Court of Justice in Goderich, Ont. on Nov. 28, 2022, while the case against the two boat captains was heard also at the Ontario Court of Justice in Goderich on Feb. 12, 2021.