A Richmond resident has been found guilty of having more than the allowable daily quota of clams and oysters.
Diosa Delacruz was fined $5,000 in Courtenay Provincial Court on Feb. 14 by Justice B.E. Hutcheson. She is also banned from fishing for one year, according to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO).
A second woman, Rosemarie Allam, was found guilty last August for daily quota violations and failing to comply with a fishing licence. She was fined $4,500 and was banned from fishing for two years.
In May 2024, the two women were found harvesting shellfish in the Baynes Sounds Recreational Shellfish Reserve, a section of Crown Land where commercial shellfish harvesting either isn’t allowed or is limited in order to support recreational harvesting.
Delacruz and Allam were found to have harvested 151 oysters and 262 manila clams, of which 222 were under the legal size.
The daily maximum quota for manila clams is 60 and for oysters, it’s 12.
The Baynes Sounds reserve, between Buckley Bay and Union Bay on Vancouver Island, is about 35 acres in size and is easily accessible from the road at low tide.
According to the DFO, it’s “often the site of illegal harvesting and over-retention.”
“It is everyone’s responsibility to know the rules before they engage in any fishing activities, and to play their part in ensuring that B.C.’s shellfish populations and their habitats are protected and sustained,” DFO said in a statement.
DFO is asking the public for information on activities of this nature or any alleged contravention of the Fisheries Act and regulations.
The DFO Pacific Region’s toll-free violation reporting line is 1-800-465-4336, or they can be reached by email at [email protected].
📣 Got an opinion on this story or any others in Richmond? Send us a letter or email your thoughts or story tips to [email protected].
📲 To stay updated on Richmond news, sign up for our daily headline newsletter.
💬 Words missing in article? Your adblocker might be preventing hyperlinked text from appearing.
