simce poacher caught convicted and fined

[Terry]

can you believe this guy is a repeat offender and gets a slap on the hand

 

 

 

Mar 28, 2007

By John Slykhuis, Staff Writer

More from this author

 

 

An Oshawa man has been fined $1,000 after taking a walleye and a whitefish from Lake Simcoe after the season was closed.

 

Constantine Sokolowski, 58, pleaded guilty and has his fishing licence suspended for six months. Sokolowski is a repeat offender, according to a Ministry of Natural Resources press release.

 

Court heard that on March 23, 2006, during a routine inspection of a group's catch of yellow perch, Ministry of Natural Resources conservation officers found a large female walleye and a whitefish hidden in a box on their van.

 

The season for walleye and whitefish had been closed since March 15.

 

Mr. Sokolowski admitted the illegal fish were his.

 

Whitefish, lake trout and walleye season all end each year on March 15 to coincide with the removal of fish huts from Lake Simoce. Perch can be fished all year round.

 

Justice of the Peace Philip N. Soloman heard the case in the Ontario Court of Justice in Oshawa Thursday.

 

The ministry reminds you closed fishing seasons are designed to protect fish populations in Lake Simcoe during vulnerable periods, such as spawning.

 

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 at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

[snoil]

Only in Canada.

[misfish]

The season closed on the 15th

[Roy]

He'll still have 3 months of muskie fishing after his license is re-instated.

 

I have a question though. What do they do with criminals who are caught fishing without a license? Do they revoke theirs for a year?

[Lostchild]

"He'll still have 3 months of muskie fishing after his license is re-instated."

 

With a guy like him, he'll probably be ice fishing for muskie on Pigeon come mid January. Shocked he even bothered to get a license.

 

 

"I have a question though. What do they do with criminals who are caught fishing without a license? Do they revoke theirs for a year?"

 

I hear they could still suspend you for whatever time period, the suspension would begins when you first possess a new one. (woohoo finally got a license, now it is suspended for a year)I also believe that they would fine you for not originally having one.

Edited March 28, 2007 by Lostchild

[Rizzo]

what a shame...he'll be back.

[ryanheritage]

They sould have made an example of him. He is a repeat offender, it's not like its his first time. Like seize his van or something real serious. Even if he wasn't convicted and got his van back I'm sure he wouldn't risk it again. And anyone else that heard what he was going through or went through would think twice before they poach.

[glirw]

seize his van ? they dont have the right to his property . I think $1000 dollars is enough to teach him a lesson for one walleye and one whitefish . sooner or later he will stop ... but until then , let the government earn some extra pocket change !!

[camillj]

Not being a Simcoe fisher-person (at least other than the big G2G) I didnt know they closed Simcoe down ... not that its an excuse (especially for a repeat offender) ... but I wonder if it is really for the fish (as they dont close down Lake Joseph) or if it is the only way to keep the die hards from drowning in the middle of lake simcoe come spring

 

 

Anyhow ...KTFO ... yes, in Ontario at least, they can sieze your rod, tackle, car, VAN, your boat, your hut ... anything that could be deemed to have contributed to the offense

[SlowPoke]

Not nearly enough? That's a pretty heavy "slap on the wrist".

I was actually quite surprised and encouraged by how high the fine was reletive to the offence. Obviously his repeat offender status played into the judgement.

[Marc Thorpe]

Not surprised the least bit

 

they did nothing with the 8 rod gang troll from St Clair

Ya really think they are gonna do anything

Ontario and Quebec have become poachers paradise and no one will do anything

You can troll as many rods as you want and poach as many fish as you want

Sad but true

I see it everyday on the water during the soft water season

No ones around

Last fall I encountered some CO's(first time in many many years),70% of their time is spent taking care of dead birds,racoons and other nuissance animals and waiting for next month budget to kick in because they have attained the current months budget in expense instead of enforcing and educating angling and hunting regulations

No they are not happy

 

Just to be clear,I think the CO's have their hands tied,OMNR well I dont know what to think

I understand the cut backs,but maybe field work instead of desk jobs would be constructtive work

There are more employees behind a desk than in the field

 

the 1000$ fine will go into some ministers GAS expense instead of patrolling fuel

If you think 1000$ is good,just remember the word REPEAT

Most offenders are just that

 

Here's a few good reads,just ask yourself how long these guys were at it to attain such an organizational structure

Answer: Being left alone to do what ever they want

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2000/05/30/poachers000530.html

 

http://bullsheet.wordpress.com/2006/12/08/...naire-poachers/

 

http://www.ec.gc.ca/default.asp?lang=En&am...99-409068A9A279

 

http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/8-8-2003-43988.asp

Edited March 29, 2007 by marc thorpe

[carp-starter]

Got the following info on poaching from Fish-Hawk.

 

http://www.fish-hawk.net/hawktalk/viewtopic.php?t=23952

 

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/s...333&k=97374

 

The guy poaching got a $12,000.00 fine for catching 4 spawning female walleye out of season.

 

12 thousand hurts a bit more.

 

carp-starter

[Marc Thorpe]

Thats the way to do it,unfortunatly the monies will go to the coffers and not be directed towards the resource

Whish all infraction/fines should be directed back into the Natural Resource treasury

[Guest mistyriver1]

Very Sad. Repeat guy on Simcoe, not enough, I agree Terry.

 

Marc, that story about the moose is just awful. I just don't get how people can enjoy that.

[BITEME]

REPEAT OFFENDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Should of seized everything

and a life ban on his license

caught again after that

minimum 2 years can time

[pikehunter]

seize his van ? they dont have the right to his property

 

Yes I believe they can seize property if it can be proven that it was used to assist in the crime. The van was used to transport the illegal catch so therefore could be seized. If I'm wrong so be it, but I feel that they should lose it all. It's too bad that they didn't take everything from everyone in the vehicle and then fine each and everyone of them at least double the penalty received! If it wasn't the convicted guy's van then oh well to bad, you know the rules too buddy pay up and shut up!

[OhioFisherman]

You grow reefer in a house here they can take the house, it`s a criminal tool. There has to be some way to get the message across, stupidity isn`t always curable.

[easton13th]

The fines aside, they should seize all his fishing equipment at the least. They were used in the act of a crime. I believe the 6 month suspension is the lighter of the fines, Should be 1 year minimum. I know the MNR are short on staff, funds, and resources, BUT when they are actually able to perform their jobs they should get OUR support and the support of the courts. After all in long run if you are doing nothing wrong you have nothing to worry about.

[Terry]

yeah..second offence and he hide the fish..(meaning he knew he was doing something illegal)....lifetime ban and 10,000 bucks......sounds like a fair sentence to me

[ryanheritage]

I figure if he got caught this time how many times has he got away with it.???????! I do believe that if you get busted poaching or something similar they should be hit with a huge fine. I just feel if he was made an example of and it hit the media alot more people would think twice before they kept a fish out of season. I would have seized his license and all things he used to do his crime, fined him 10,000 for each fish out of season and made him clean 10k of shoreline. But thats just me. Even though it wasn't worth the 1000 bucks those two fish Im sure if he had to face my sentence he wouldn't have even considered keeping those fish.

[wuchikubo]

I say the OMNR should invest in tracking devices, similar to those for ALZ patients and animals to that they can check in on them every time they are near fishing waters! Double the fine for each infraction repeated (and hope the money goes back into the OMNR for funding the CO's). I apologize if I sound a bit harsh, but I don't like to see the OMNR in the condition it is in now!

 

[Puckhead]

He knew he was poaching and did it again. Check that, he was caught again. Who knows how many times he's walked away with OOS fish. Vehicles, boat, gear, anything used to assist in the crime should be treated the same as any other crime. If you use your car to rob a bank, they sieze the car. Why is this any different? If messages are not sent that poaching is a serious crime/issue, jerk offs will keep taking the risk... $1000 is hardly headline material.

Edited March 29, 2007 by Puckhead

[Steelcat]

Taking off season fish is bad enough, and he actually tried to hide them means he knew about it. I thought it's the MNR officers' job to fine the poacher and sieze his fishing gears at least. At least that's what the officer did early spring last year when a couple of guys fished without a license from shore. The officer walked to the fishing spot, checked everyone's license (including myself). He actually took all their gears away into his truck. I guess when someone didn't pay for the license, they will sieze their gears. As for the poacher, I guess since the guy didn't owe MNR any $$ so the officer let him go with a fine only, then the guy can poach again and get caught again (probably that's how they get their funding).....

[tonyb]

I still think that the MNR should consider commission based C.O.'s. Since it is evident the MNR has no money...make the salary $10,000 a year. But then, the C.O.'s are given a percentage of every fine, say 50% in addition to all the gear they could seize and keep themselves or sell if it was involved in a bust.

 

Do you think we would have more fines laid (not to mention maximum fines dished out), in addition to more officers afield? I think so...and poachers would realize it isn't worth losing their truck that towed the S.S. Poacher (also seized) or losing their house that contained the freezer full of Musky fillets and Aurora trout caviar.

 

Ebay would have to create a portal for all these officers to be able to get rid of all the gear, and we would get some sweet deals! mnr.lol.ebay.com

 

Seriously!

Tony

Edited March 29, 2007 by tonyb

[bbog]

Hey tonyb I like your idea of commission based enforcement (if we had a way to control the overly zealous).

 

No amount of fine is too much for a repeat offender!