|
VANCOUVER (CP) -- An Edmonton man who pleaded guilty to illegally transporting and selling tainted B.C. salmon in Alberta has been fined $12,000 in provincial court in Stony Plain, Alta.
Barry Deane Wasylyszyn had bought salmon that was not caught under a licence that authorizes sales. He also took the fish to the Edmonton area to sell.
Wasylyszyn was arrested recently near Edmonton by federal Fisheries Department officers from British Columbia and conservation officers from Alberta as he returned from a fish-buying trip.
A search of his vehicle turned up 182 whole sockeye salmon, along with numerous wrapped packages of smoked and dried fish portions.
The fish and Wasylyszyn's vehicle were subsequently seized. A food quality test of the smoked fish showed high levels of both E. coli and fecal coliform bacteria, rendering them unfit for human consumption.
Wasylyszyn admitted he bought the fish from someone in the Kitwanga area east of Terrace, B.C., and that the person had been fishing using an aboriginal communal fishing licence that did not authorize the sale of salmon.
Authorities in Edmonton had received a tip in August 2001, prompting the establishment of the joint investigation.
Charges were also recently laid against David Alexander of Kitwanga, B.C., for the unauthorized sale of salmon as a direct result of this case.
Only fish caught under a licence that authorizes the sale of that fish should be purchased, Fisheries Department officials said.
Fish and shellfish sold to the public must also go through the necessary health and safety inspections that are required when selling to the public.
http://www.canoe.ca/WesternTicker/CANOE-wire.Fisheries-Fine.html |
|