Humber River Salmon Poachers Fined $3,500
Three Toronto residents have been fined a total of $3,500 for illegal salmon fishing on the Humber River in the City of Toronto.
Ervin Paczok pleaded guilty and was fined $1,500 for attempting to catch salmon with a landing net. This is the second time in 2012 that Paczok has been convicted for salmon poaching offences. The court heard that Ministry of Natural Resources conservation officers conducted patrols along the Humber River in Toronto during the fall migration of spawning salmon.
On October 3, 2012, Paczok was seen wading in the Humber River. He was chasing and trying to catch salmon by scooping them up with a fish landing net. Attila Raffael and Zsolt Raffael pleaded guilty and were each fined $500 for fishing less than 22.9 metres (75 feet) downstream from a dam and $500 for attempting to snag salmon with a weighted hook. In addition to the fines, their fishing equipment has been permanently forfeited.
On October 11, 2012, conservation officers saw the two men trying to snag salmon in the Humber River immediately below a dam, an area that is closed to fishing. Justice of the Peace Sunny Ng heard the cases in the Ontario Court of Justice, Toronto, on December 13, 2012. Migratory fish, such as salmon and rainbow trout, are vulnerable to poaching when they congregate in shallow water and in the pools at the base of dams while moving upstream to spawn. Illegal fishing methods, such as netting and snagging, damage these fish populations and threaten the economic and social benefits that healthy fisheries provide to the people of Ontario.
For further information on fishing regulations, please consult the 2013 Recreational Fishing Regulations Summary, available at ServiceOntario/Government Information Centres, licence issuers and at ontario.ca/fishing.
To report a natural resources violation, call 1-877-TIPS-MNR (847-7667) toll-free any time or contact your local ministry office during regular business hours. You can also call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS