Fishing Violation

[hal53]

Originally Posted by Badgoodguy

Sure he broke the law but here is just a dumb thought......Depending on what language his dad speaks do they not require an interpeter for his dad in the court and if so perhaps it might even get thrown out Who Knows just a thought.....

he is allowed an interpreter if he is French and doesn't speak English or vice-versa, one of Canada's official languages, we (taxpayer) must provide that for him....my question is.....sounds like he has been here a long time....why would he not learn to speak and understand one of our languages????.....just wondering...obviously he chose to be here?????????

[KegRiver]

Sorry they had to learn the hard way.

As for all the heros who have no sympathy for those fellows, you ought to try immigrating to a country where the language and customs are different.

I have made enough mistakes in my life to appreciate that sometimes good people make bad choices with no ill intent.

I wonder how many GOOD CANADIANS stood by and watched this situation develop and said nothing.

Wish I had some advice for you gray, but I have no experience with the courts.

[BGSH]

We could go on all day about fish violations, I bet almost all of you have done something wrong or hurtfall towards fish well fishing, throwing fish, kicking fish ect.... but thank god this man was caught and is going to face the law, its in place for a reason, just hope you didnt keep sturgeon then your an idiiot and are going to face harsh penaltys, when i see people release trout by throwing em in the water or keeping them out of the water for more then 8 seconds taking pictures, its a shame, anyways face the penaltys and now your dad knows for the future to take a regulations book out when fishing, all the best towards the future fishing.

[huntsfurfish]

quote Braun "the guy was only looking for advice on how to help his father. he wasnt making excuses. alot of the people on this forum have their heads up their asses(the definition of an asshat). ya its wrong. they know its wrong. leave it at that."

Well said.

[BGSH]

Why are there fishing regulations if not many people follow them anymore?

[WayneChristie]

Originally Posted by hal53

...my question is.....sounds like he has been here a long time....why would he not learn to speak and understand one of our languages????.....just wondering...obviously he chose to be here?????????

exactly. 15 years is a long time to be ignorant of the language in a country where you live and work, and if hes been fishing that long and had the regs explained to him, he know very well that you are allowed only one rod in open water, so he has no excuse. I hope he gets the maximum fines allowed, hes had 15 years to figure it out.

[Duramaximos]

As much as I do feel some sympathy for your father, I would feel cheated as a law abiding outdoorsmen if he gets off with a slap on the wrist.

You say he understands he made a mistake, but a slap on the wrist may not deter him from making the same "mistakes" in the future.

[Ken07AOVette]

Originally Posted by WayneChristie

exactly. 15 years is a long time to be ignorant of the language in a country where you live and work, and if hes been fishing that long and had the regs explained to him, he know very well that you are allowed only one rod in open water, so he has no excuse. I hope he gets the maximum fines allowed, hes had 15 years to figure it out.

Exactly.

I am so tired of the crying immigrant game.

[chubbdarter]

Originally Posted by Ken07AOVette

Exactly.

I am so tired of the crying immigrant game.

Im tired of the whole crying game.......if we are buying vans for con artists maybe this guy deserves a break....

[iliketrout]

So we're defending poachers now?

If "missmyhusband" has the numbers correct, I would assume each guy will get $100 for exceeding the limit and 2 fish each at $20, plus $50 for the gray's father only (since the other guy wasn't charged with too many lines). That only adds up to $330 total. Probably doesn't even cover the cost of enforcement, especially if there is a court date.

I have to wonder how many other times this friend has fished more than one line and kept illegal fish as well...

I'm just glad that they have been made aware of their mistakes and will hopefully not repeat them in the future.

[Lefty-Canuck]

No worries ILT....probably just pay the small fine and go back to doing whats been done for the past 15 years....ignorance is bliss....

LC

[slivers86]

The manditory court date, would probably be on top of those listed tickets, am I right Gray?

Most of the time, when a ticket(s) are issued, an officer will give out multiple tickets. Once in court, normally a number of them are thrown out, and only one or two convictions. In this case, it sounds like whatever species was being kept, may have been on a complete ban or whatnot (such as bulls, sturgeon.. even walleye in some places). Poaching I believe is still a provincial offence, but the fine is to be placed by the residing judge, not the conservation/f&g officer.

Just becuase you're going to court doesn't mean you will get taken to the cleaners, just be honest and don't cry for help or sympathy. Admit it was a big mistake, and let the judge/crown do their job.

good luck in future endeavors.

[HunterDave]

Me thinks that we're being hoodwinked. The old "here's my story" followed by "yeah, it's true" (Post 61).

If you want to know the REAL answer..........It depends on what language your Father speaks. The Judge will have a look at the foreign language chart and fine accordingly. It starts at $200 for Spanish speaking people and goes as high as $5000/fish/rod for weird languages that people never heard of.

[RAK]

It sounds to me that you should discuss this problem with a lawyer who is familiar with fish and wildlife law before your dad goes to court. A lawyer should be able to tell you what your options are and what the outcome may be.

[Shmag]

Had a family friend come up to slave about 10 yrs ago, a fish snapped his line so he casted out a slip bobber while he retied. He retied and ended up casting it out before reeling in his bobber. Wardens were watching but never approached him there. They waited at the launch for him to return and handed a ticket for fishing with 2 rods...automatic court appearence.

Of coarse he was an out of towner so i had to show up in court for him. He was charged $ 150.00. Not sure if it changed since then...probably not much. As far as over possesion...now that can get costly

[Isopod]

Gray, I don't have any direct knowledge in this area, but if this is your dad's first fishing violation in 15 years I would be really surprised if the fine was more than a few hundred dollars. No question their actions were wrong, but in the world of poaching, four fish is small compared to the guys who poach commercially. I'm not defending their actions, in fact I think it's good they were caught, but I just can't see the courts coming down too hard on them. If this is a second violation, that's a whole other story...

[SkytopBrewster]

Everytime I buy worms at the Husky station at Rocky to take the boys to the kids pond the store owner Oriental, little english) asks if he is allowed to use them in the N Sask river and each time I tell him no. They sell licences and there is a stack of regs by the door. Too funny, sorry about you're dads luck but I don't think he deserves a break. I guess we have to print the regs in more languages

[Chris K]

If I were you, I would have your dad take the fine for too many lines. His buddy is going to get 1000 per fish for the ones that he is credited with keeping, so the $4000 fine is going to be a good lesson for him. Your dad is actually lucky in this situation for the price of his ticket vs what his buddy is going to get. The officer really did give him a big break in this situation.

CK

[missmyhusband]

Originally Posted by Chris K

If I were you, I would have your dad take the fine for too many lines. His buddy is going to get 1000 per fish for the ones that he is credited with keeping, so the $4000 fine is going to be a good lesson for him. Your dad is actually lucky in this situation for the price of his ticket vs what his buddy is going to get. The officer really did give him a big break in this situation.

CK

Got a link to that fine Schedule?

[AlbertaAngler]

Originally Posted by missmyhusband

Got a link to that fine Schedule?

It's not a set fine. Fish and Wildlife officers have the option of requiring a court appearance when set fines would be too low for the circumstances. Judges are fining around $1000 a walleye in the Brooks area. Every Judge and circumstance is different so who knows what the fines will be. That's if the four fish kept were walleye.

[DarkAisling]

Originally Posted by Chris K

If I were you, I would have your dad take the fine for too many lines. His buddy is going to get 1000 per fish for the ones that he is credited with keeping, so the $4000 fine is going to be a good lesson for him. Your dad is actually lucky in this situation for the price of his ticket vs what his buddy is going to get. The officer really did give him a big break in this situation.

CK

That's what I'm thinking, as well. I'm not sure what the difference would be in accepting responsibility for the two lines that were his and the additional line that he was charged for, versus just his two lines.

The three versus two lines discrepancy is the only real issue here . . . and that may not affect the outcome. If it will affect the outcome, he should certainly make it clear that he is willing to claim responsibility for the two lines and not the third.

The whole situation is very unfortunate (for Gray's family AND our resources), but hopefully Gray's father will make wiser choices in the future and consult with someone who is fluent in English and knowledgeable about our fishing regulations in the future. Sometimes the lessons we were learn the hard way have the most impact.

[Crusty]

Guide and Bfshr, grow up! Pretty brave behind the screen. As far as the excuse, no speaky english, that's no excuse. The judge will deal with this case, not some po'd forum member. If any member thinks fines are to small, etc............... crying about here doesn't fix the issue, it just gets all your butt kissing friends to agree with you. Talk to the politicians, they hopefully will make it right, I doubt it but hopefully. I'm TIRED of the whining on both, it's so pathetic!

[boot]

Originally Posted by Braun

thats not what hes talking about. he is talking about how both him and his father both acknowledge that it is wrong that the regs wernt fallowed and accept the consequences. the guy was only looking for advice on how to help his father. he wasnt making excuses. alot of the people on this forum have their heads up their asses(the definition of an asshat). ya its wrong. they know its wrong. leave it at that.

+1
We agree!

[Crusty]

Originally Posted by DarkAisling

That's what I'm thinking, as well. I'm not sure what the difference would be in accepting responsibility for the two lines that were his and the additional line that he was charged for, versus just his two lines.

The three versus two lines discrepancy is the only real issue here . . . and that may not affect the outcome. If it will affect the outcome, he should certainly make it clear that he is willing to claim responsibility for the two lines and not the third.

The whole situation is very unfortunate (for Gray's family AND our resources), but hopefully Gray's father will make wiser choices in the future and consult with someone who is fluent in English and knowledgeable about our fishing regulations in the future. Sometimes the lessons we were learn the hard way have the most impact.

Don't you GET IT!! His father did trust the person he was with!! All this stupid advice, are you a school teacher? Mr.Gray and friend screwed up. The courts will take care of the matter, even if it doesn't please us members.
People who fish, hunt, drive, build houses, pay taxes, walk on the road, go to school, farm, have a job, are out of work and everthing else that goes on around us on a daily, weekly, yearly basis and live in this country, know there are rules. It's up to us living in this fine country to educate ourselves before proceeding in any kind of venture.

[boot]

Originally Posted by Lefty-Canuck

No worries ILT....probably just pay the small fine and go back to doing whats been done for the past 15 years....ignorance is bliss....

LC

-1
Bah....!

[FishingMOM]

Originally Posted by gray

Thank you for all who provided actual responses. I am not a hunter/fisherman myself so I do not know all the rules and feel it is really unfair to be attacked here.

For future reference please get yourself a copy of the regulations so that when dad wants to hit the water he can ask you to look things up for him.

Originally Posted by gray

I wasn't looking for sympathy. I just wanted to see if anyone had heard of similar encounter so I know what to expect in court (I tried searching and couldn't come up with anything). I could have just asked what is the fine for breaking the rule, but I knew I would get attacked if I asked that.

Unfortunately courts are based on judges and judges are human and they all have different feelings and findings. So the punishment can vary from judge to judge.

Originally Posted by gray

Instead, I decided to give a back of background such as my dad didn't speak English so that you guys would know he didn't knowingly break the rule and is asking for an easy way out.

Unfortunetly we hear the "no speak english" line a lot and 99% of the time it is BS. So we don't buy it per say. Now I would encourage you to help your father learn either english or french. It will make life easier.

Originally Posted by gray

Anyway, my dad first got his fishing license about fifteen years ago. I was still in elementary (or junior high, I can't remember) but my older brother and my mom read the regulations at the time. When we took family trips, they would always check the catching limits at each lake we visited. My brother and I were both underage at the time and always had three lines or less at a time. I don't think there was a problem there.

again frustration with immigrants who have failed to learn the language. While I have no issue with someone maintaining their own languages at home, it is essential to learn one of the two official languages. As the saying goes "when in Rome..........."

Originally Posted by gray

As the years went on, my brother and I grew up and became busy with school and work. We stopped going on the family trips and instead my dad found new friends (from work or other friends) to go fishing with. His friends told him the regulations for the new lakes they took him to (and he trusted them) and he knew not to violate them.

Its great your father made an attempt to follow the regulations, he trusted the wrong person in this instance.
It is very disturbing that your fathers friend failed to stand up and take personal responsibility for his own actions. I sure hope that your dad ends all interaction with this person.

Originally Posted by gray

As for exceeding the number of lines, the friend told him they were allowed two lines each, but it turns out (as i'm sure the rest of you know), that is he is confusing with the ice fishing rules.

see above

Originally Posted by gray

Yes, he violated the regulations. He knows that and I know that.

Glad to see what he acknowledges he was in the wrong. I suspect if he makes a formal appology to the courts he may be given some lienancy.

Originally Posted by gray

Possibly. I think my dad mentioned his new fishing spot was close to Devil's Lake (where we have gone a few times as a family). It think it happend the week of July 16/17. My mom left the country on July 12th and he must have gotten himself in trouble that weekend. I've been busy with moving this month and last night was the first time I've been back to visit him since before my mom left. As usual, I asked if he went fishing on Saturday and he quietly told me how he screwed up. He told me how it was unfair that the officer tagged him with the third rod, but other than that he was just really afraid of the huge fine he would have to face. He was even hesitant to ask me to go to court with him (which would be in Stony Plain) as he knows I have a strict work schedule. Of course, I will make sure to go to court with him and will take the suggestion to call the officer beforehand to get an understanding of the charges. Anyway, as soon as I got home last night, I tried to do some research and ended up here with my post. And yes, I work a full time job, so I couldn't check the forum again until I got home from work just now (whoever was trying to accuse me otherwise).

Hang in there and make sure the court knows he is sorry, also I would suggest enrolling your dad in ESL course and have him attend. This might also help his case. Don't feel overly bad because even regular english speakers can get confused and break the regulations without realizing it until they are handed a ticket.
Guys/gals tend to be a bit sensitive when it comes to fishing and hunting regulations as we all try to protect the fishery. Unfortunately there are so many out there who purposefully circumvent the regulations for personal gain.
It is great to see that your father is humbled by this situation and will ensure that in the future he will behave himself.

Originally Posted by gray

To those of you who disagree with any of this, please just be respectful and ignore this thread. I can tell my dad has been very affected by it and it has had me very stressed out since I found out last night. We are not like some people who haul boats and have fancy trucks so we can't just throw money at the problem like nothing. This is not a joke to us. What happened has happened and yes, lesson learned if my dad can still fish again. I will make sure to keep an eye on him from now on. If you can't be helpful, then don't say anything at all.

It can happen, it has happened and now is the time to make the changes so that it never happens again.
Again be humble in front of the courts and hopefully the judge will take that into consideration at the time of the hearing.



JENNIFER!

[DarkAisling]

Originally Posted by Crusty

Don't you GET IT!! His father did trust the person he was with!! All this stupid advice, are you a school teacher? Mr.Gray and friend screwed up. The courts will take care of the matter, even if it doesn't please us members.

Holy crap dude. I'm NOT a school teacher, and I didn't give any advice. How is your English comprehension?

Welcome to my ignore list. That makes 16 forum members not worth my time. Don't worry. You're in good company.

[boot]

Originally Posted by DarkAisling

Holy crap dude. I'm NOT a school teacher, and I didn't give any advice. How is your English comprehension?

Welcome to my ignore list. That makes 16 forum members not worth my time. Don't worry. You're in good company.

Haha nice! Maybe we should send Crusty to ESL? Should we start an "ESL for Crusty Fund"?

[Christofficer]

Gray, you feel attacked because you are being attacked. But you can't expect anything less. Like alot of people pointed out, for all we know this is a troll post. For all we know, this might have happened to YOU, and not your dad. This is the internet remember? anybody can be whoever they wish.

If my post was insulting, I apologize and take it back. I know for a fact you're not coming here for sympathy, nobody would be that naive to think they'd actually get it on an outdoorsmen forum for creating such a topic.

You have to realize that this was probably not the best place to ask such a question if you weren't expecting to take any attacks at all. Nobody likes being attacked and that's why it's probably a good thing you asked here. You're getting straight up responses from people who follow the rules.


Like fishingmom just explained, you have to convince your dad not to interact with this person anymore. No matter what the excuse this guy has even if it's just ignorance, and he is sorry, your dad obviously can't risk being around someone who might get him into maybe even worse trouble with something else. The best thing you can really do is talk to a lawyer with your dad. Just a consultation will probably help you find out exactly what he's facing and what he can do about it. Consultations don't usually cost anything. However, like pointed out already, it might be best to just take the fines for multiple rods. If your dad wasn't into keeping any illegal fish, getting off with just rod fines is most likely the best choice from what I can think of. Sorry I can't be of any more help. I just can't see your dad getting away with it completely. Rightfully so too, I know if I ever got caught for using more than 1 rod I wouldn't allow myself to get away with it. The rules are the rules. We don't learn from our mistakes if we cheat.

[Donkey Slayer]

Ignorance is no excuse!

Please do not introduce your dad, who is a poacher, to hunting.