A commercial clam fish harvester on Denman Island has been fined $10,000 for violations of Canada’s Fisheries Act.
On February 17, 2021 Keith Chui was found guilty in Courtenay Provincial Court of eight counts of violations under the Fisheries Act.
According to the list of current Shellfish BC aquaculture licence holders, Chui co-owns a licence on the southern tip of Denman Island, along with Ammy Chui, Huan Zhang and Jia Tian.
Their licence includes harvesting of Littleneck Clams, Manila Clams, Butter Clams, Pacific Oysters, and Nuttall Cockles.
Chui’s violations included tagging shellfish container with missing information, such as information to show where the fish was harvested, when it was harvested and who the harvester was. Chui was fined $1,500 for each of these counts, for a total of $4,500.
The harvester’s activity records also did not accurately represent the product that was being harvested from his site for three years, from 2014 to 2016. He was fined $1,500 for each year, for an additional total of $4,500.
Chui also failed to submit annual aquaculture statistical reports for 2015 and 2016, which the Department of Fisheries and Oceans say are used for resource management purposes. He was fined $500 for each of these years, for a total of $1,000.
The verdict was decided on February 17, 2021 by Judge Brian Hutcheson.
