A sophisticated illegal fishing operation, which took $36,000 worth of fish from Pigeon Lake area lakes, has netted 27 suspects - including those in Wetaskiwin, Millet and Pigeon Lake.
"The net value or total worth of the illegal bought and sold fish is approximately 36K ($36,000)," said Brandon Cox, Alberta Solicitor General and Public Security Communications officer.
The suspects face an array of charges including the unlawful sale and purchase of walleye and whitefish.
27 suspects
The alleged 27 offenders - from Wetaskiwin, Ma-Me-O Beach, Mulhurst Bay, Falun, Alder Flats, Thorsby, Warburg, Millet, Camrose, Ferintosh, Rimbey, Sherwood Park and Bruce - are scheduled to appear in a number of court locations this May.
According to Supt. Miles Grove of the Fish and Wildlife Enforcement branch, based in Wetaskiwin, the investigation began with some public complaints of people illegally netting and selling walleye and whitefish from local lakes.
Of the arrests, two were charged with killing and selling the fish and the rest were buyers.
Around 1,000 fish, weighing more than 2,000 kilograms, were taken from local lakes during the time of the offences.
Groove said the majority of the fish were taken from Battle Lake.
"The people that were poaching the fish and selling had clients," explained Grove, who was one of 18 uniformed officers involved in the arrests. "They had a client base a lot of times already established.
"They would communicate with them somehow, make an arrangement to meet and they would do the transaction. It's organized crime, basically."
Groove said the sales could have taken place at businesses, homes or even in parking lots, but the people involved knew what they were doing was illegal, not just a spur of the moment sale.
"Wintertime is a pretty common time for the net fishing to occur so a lot of it was happening fairly recently," said Grove.
Though it doesn't happen often, undercover operations are common when trying to stem the illegal sale of fish in North America.
According to Grove, a similar arrest took place in the Athabasca-Lac La Biche area in 2007.
At that time, 21 individuals were convicted and were handed $208,700 in fines and 90 days in jail. Another arrest took place in Cold Lake and St. Paul about 10 years ago with 34 individuals and one business convicted, paying $273,350 in fines and serving 54 months in jail.
Maximum penalty includes $100,000 fine
Grove said the maximum penalty for any one charge is $100,000 and one year in jail but the final decision rests with the court. He said the focus was not just on the poachers.
"When we do an operation, we want to target everybody," he said.
"The people buying the fish have just as much of a part in the whole issue as the people that are killing and selling them."
Anyone who has information about any fish or wildlife crime in Alberta are asked to contact their local Fish and Wildlife Enforcement office, or call the toll-free Report A Poacher line at 1-800-642-3800.
The Report A Poacher line is open 24 hours. Anyone who provides information can remain anonymous and could qualify for a reward.
- jleblanc@wetaskiwintimes.com
Suspects face numerous charges as a result of 3.5 year investigation
Here is the complete list of people who have charged under the Fisheries (Alberta) Act.
Appearing in Wetaskiwin Provincial court:
Floyd Louis Roasting of Ma-Me-O Beach
Twelve counts of unlawfully selling fish, contrary to the Fisheries (Alberta) Act.
Seven counts related to hunting offences under of the Wildlife Act.
Maurice M. Vandenbrink of Mulhurst Bay
Eight counts of unlawfully selling fish, contrary to the Fisheries (Alberta).
Campion Edward Cameron of Wetaskiwin
Four counts of unlawfully buying fish, contrary to the Fisheries (Alberta) Act.
Morgan Briana Scheie Christiansen of Mulhurst Bay.
Three counts of unlawfully buying fish, contrary to the Fisheries (Alberta) Act.
Melissa Birget Haut of Thorsby
Three counts of unlawfully buying fish, contrary to the Fisheries (Alberta) Act.
Jui Chen Jane Yu of Wetaskiwin
Two counts of unlawfully buying fish, contrary to the Fisheries (Alberta) Act.
Man Po Yu of Wetaskiwin
Two counts of unlawfully buying fish, contrary to the Fisheries (Alberta) Act.
Sharon Lynn Anderson of Millet
One count of unlawfully buying fish, contrary to the Fisheries (Alberta) Act.
Lorne Calvin Anderson of Millet
One count of unlawfully buying fish, contrary to the Fisheries (Alberta) Act.
Dennis Jack Monaghan of Falun.
One count of unlawfully buying fish, contrary to the Fisheries (Alberta) Act.
John Darius Hofer of Ferintosh.
One count of unlawfully buying fish, contrary to the Fisheries (Alberta) Act.
Darius R. Hofer of Ferintosh.
Two counts of unlawfully buying fish, contrary to the Fisheries (Alberta) Act.
Appearing in Wetaskiwin, and Camrose Provincial Court
Andrew Wurz of Camrose.
Five counts of unlawfully buying fish, contrary to the Fisheries (Alberta) Act.
Appearing in Camrose Provincial Court:
Michael Jerry Tschetter of Camrose.
Two counts of unlawfully buying fish, contrary to the Fisheries (Alberta) Act.
Mike Tschetter of Camrose.
One count of unlawfully buying fish, contrary to the Fisheries (Alberta) Act.
Andrew P. Hofer of Bruce.
One count of unlawfully buying fish, contrary to the Fisheries (Alberta) Act.
Paul Hofer of Bruce.
One count of unlawfully buying fish, contrary to the Fisheries (Alberta) Act.
Martin Jacob Hofer of Bruce.
One count of trafficking in wildlife, contrary to the Wildlife Act.
Appearing in Edmonton Provincial Court
Joseph Black of Alder Flats.
One count of unlawfully buying fish, contrary to the Fisheries (Alberta) Act.
Brian David Silver of Sherwood Park.
One count of unlawfully buying fish, contrary to the Fisheries (Alberta) Act.
Appearing in Breton Provincial court:
Klaus Kronschnabl of Thorsby.
One count of unlawfully buying fish, contrary to the Fisheries (Alberta) Act.
Joshua Wipf of Warburg.
Two counts of unlawfully buying fish, contrary to the Fisheries (Alberta) Act.
Two counts of unlawfully selling fish, contrary to the Fisheries (Alberta) Act.
Frank Williams Wipf of Warburg.
One count of unlawfully buying fish, contrary to the Fisheries (Alberta) Act.
Chris Simon Wipf of Warburg.
Two counts of unlawfully selling fish, contrary to the Fisheries (Alberta) Act.
Appearing in Rimbey Provincial Court
George E. Hofer of Rimbey.
Three counts of unlawfully buying fish, contrary to the Fisheries (Alberta) Act.
Elias E. Hofer of Rimbey.
Two counts of unlawfully buying fish, contrary to the Fisheries (Alberta) Act.
Frank Elias Hofer of Rimbey.
One count of unlawfully buying fish, contrary to the Fisheries (Alberta) Act.
- Alberta government
