Originally Posted by gray
For those who asked, I do think the four the friend kept were walleye. Based on a quick search of the regulation book, if this was lac ste anne (suggested by the other poster), then the limit is 0. Two rods or three, I am hoping my dad ended up with the lesser of the two charges (compared to the overlimit charge).
My dad showed me the ticket when i went to see him on the weekend, but I was a bit shaken and upset at the time and didn't look closely at the detail. All I remember was that the ticket listed a description of the three rods. I don't remember seeing a fee but I will check again this weekend.
For you trolls:
My dad came to Canada in his 50s. He's been enrolled in two or three new immigrant English classes when he came here. I think many of you don't realize how difficult it is to learn a second language at that age. He had to learn English in order to get his Canadian citizenship. He passed the knowledge exam each time, but failed the conversation portion twice. He got lucky because a couple years after that, immigration introduced a new rule that people over 55 do not have to pass the communication test. I think the government recognizes how difficult it is for for older people to learn a completely new language.
Furthermore, my dad is very hardworking, but higher education was not an option from where we came from and back during that time. In Canada, all he can get are manual labor jobs, working with other immigrants who don't speak english well. He has very limited opportunity to converse with other English speaking people each day.
I had to take ESL when I came here as a six year old child. Even for my young mind, I had to be in ESL for three years before I had a good grasp of the language. My brother, a bit older than me, still speaks with an accent to this day. You can blame immigrants all you want for not bothering to learn English/French, but I know my dad spent his time working to support our family. My family is not wealthy, but I am proud that my brother and I were both able to get through unversity and got out debtfree. Because of this, I will do whatever it takes to help my dad through this, even if it means dealing with you nasty trolls.
The point, again (as some of you already know, others not so much) - My dad understands there are fishing regulations, but because he didn't speak English, he relied on his friend's interpretation (who would have known you can't trust your friends?) I came here because we were worried that this fine was going to be in the thousands (because of the mandatory court date, we didn't know what to expect). Based on a couple of the responses, it might be a couple hundred, and in that case, I can put aside some money and pay it for my dad. Hopefully that will be the end of it. If he can keep his fishing license, i will be sure to educate him more on the regulations. Of course, the challenge is that his "friends" take him to these so called sweet new fishing spots, but because my dad doesn't know English, he can't come back and tell me what lake it is and I have trouble keeping him on track.
Thank you GustavMahler. Hopefully when my dad gets back in the mood for fishing, your help would be great. I am (now) familiar with the alberta regulations website and will be referring to it more. Are there any other resources I should be aware of in terms of staying out of trouble?
Anyway, I am done explaining myself to the people who cannot help but be rude and inconsiderate. This will be my last post on this forum.
So thank you to all the rest who provided useful information or at least reserved judgment. If any kind persons have any more advice or would like to find out the outcome, please feel free to pm me.
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