Foul catch nets fishermen $2,500 in fines

A pair of Amherstburg fishermen have been fined a total of $2,500 for exceeding walleye catch limits.

Robert Gignac Jr. and Robert Gignac Sr. pleaded guilty in provincial offences court last week to possessing an over-limit of walleye caught in Lake Erie. Each of the men was fined $1,000, and Gignac Jr. was fined an additional $500 for transporting illegally caught fish.

On Aug. 1, 2017, the Gignacs and a third man were fishing in the Chatham-Kent waters of Lake Erie east of Wheatley in a boat called the “Buckeye.”

When the boat returned to the Wheatley Harbour, conservation officers with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry inspected it. The Gignacs produced 17 walleye in a cooler and stated they had no more fish. The officers searched the boat with the assistance of the ministry’s canine unit and found 10 more fileted walleye concealed in a utility box at the front of the vessel.

The catch limit for walleye is six per person. The men aboard the Buckeye were nine fish over the limit.

Gignac Jr. has a prior conviction from 2017 for fishing for walleye with two extra fishing rods.

Conservation officers seized all 27 fish, as well as a range of fishing equipment from the boat. In addition to the fines, the seized equipment was forfeited to the Crown.