Archived – A Three Year Multi-Country DFO Investigation Around Threatened Northern Abalone Concludes Successfull

October 30, 2009

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Conservation and Protection Intelligence and Investigation Services Unit, Fisheries and Oceans Canada:

Originally created in 1985, the Intelligence and Investigation Services Unit was designed to target large-scale investigations that cross many jurisdictions and international boundaries and require expertise and manpower not normally available to general duty fishery officers.

Using a complete range of enforcement tools, from covert operations and surveillance to intelligence-led enforcement, the 18-officer unit targets major players in the illegal distribution of fish and fish products.

Currently, the Intelligence and Investigation Services Unit officers are involved across the spectrum of enforcement activities, including the Regional Aerial Surveillance program, International Fishery enforcement (which involves high seas driftnet patrols in the North Pacific) and the boarding and inspection of foreign vessels in Canadian ports.

Northern Abalone:

Northern abalone, found along the Pacific Coast, is listed as a threatened species under the Species at Risk Act (SARA).

The Northern abalone fisheries have been closed since 1990 to halt the decline of the existing wild population and reduce the risk of this species becoming extinct in British Columbia.

In 2009, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), an independent scientific group, recommended a change in SARA status of Northern abalone to “endangered.” 

Illegal harvesting (poaching) of the mollusc is considered the biggest factor affecting recovery of the species, and poaching and trafficking abalone is a serious offence under the Fisheries Act, which can result in fines of up to $500,000, a term of imprisonment of up to two years, or both.

News Release:

• A Three Year Multi-Country DFO Investigation Around Threatened Northern Abalone Concludes Successfully

 

BG-PR-09-014e