An individual from Belleville was fined $20,000 under the Fisheries Act as a result of an investigation by fishery officers with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). Sentencing took place in the Ontario Court of Justice.
On December 11, 2023, the individual was sentenced for carrying out work that resulted in serious harm to fish that are part of a commercial, recreational or Indigenous fishery, and failure to comply with the whole or part of a direction of an inspector or fishery officer.
The offence took place in the spring of 2018 where the DFO says it consisted of infilling an area approximately 22 metres wide along the shore and 18 metres out into the Bay of Quinte off of the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory.
The DFO says the action permanently destroyed a wetted area and eliminated aquatic vegetation. The area had previously been used by various fish species for spawning, feeding, and cover.
The court has ordered the individual to remove the infill in the area within 15 months of sentencing.
In 2019, the company hired by the individual to carry out the work, Tompkins Bros. Landscaping & Excavating, pleaded guilty to violations of the Fisheries Act and was ordered to pay a fine of $15,000.
Money from both that fine as well as the $20,000 fine will go towards the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte as part of a fishery project in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory.
