Two men and two women have been fined a total of 17-thousand dollars -- and had all their fishing gear confiscated -- after being convicted of fisheries violations and lying to a fisheries officer.
A Victoria provincial court judge found the violations happened off Galiano Island in May of last year when officers checked a nearly seven-metre vessel, discovering a cache of hidden rock fish -- including three Yelloweye rock fish, which are illegal to retain.
The case concluded earlier this month and the proceedings heard that officers were told only a few fish were in a tote on deck -- but a search located the hidden catch.
The vessel master was fined two-thousand dollars for her part in the misleading statements, while each of the other three accused were fined 35-hundred dollars for overpossession of rock fish and an additional 15-hundred dollars for obstruction.
