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A judge has ruled that a Nanaimo man, and an associated numbered company, illegally fished and sold sea cucumbers, defying previous court orders in the process.
At B.C. Supreme Court in Nanaimo on Wednesday, Jan. 8, justice David Crerar found Scott Stanley Matthew Steer and 1215419 B.C. Ltd., associated with his wife, Melissa Steer, guilty of illegally fishing for sea cucumbers without a licence and out of season; selling illegally caught sea cucumbers, and buying a vessel to aid in his operation.
In addition, during a March 2020 search of Steer's Nanaimo home, fishing gear was found contravening two previous respective B.C. provincial and supreme court orders.
According to the judge's ruling, the offences occurred between 2019 and 2020. In July 2019, Steer bought a 30-foot aluminum fishing boat. In addition, a 38-foot vessel, the Kingfisher MK III, was incorporated to the numbered company, which bought a refrigerator truck and fishing equipment with the aim of an operation that would harvest and sell catch.
A person hired by Steer to fish for sea cucumbers in December 2019 testified in court, and text messages revealed that Steer instructed the worker to conduct numerous sea cucumber fishing expeditions.
The worker testified that one such trip, in the Alert Bay area in early December 2019, was disorganized and that he "felt unsafe." He was doing the work of the captain, cook and deckhand in addition to diver, he said, and the diving was done in turbulent weather and waters. He testified that about 300 sea cucumbers were harvested.
The judge's ruling also stated the catch was sold to Wen Lian Aquaculture Co. Ltd in Vancouver, with the numbered company delivering 87,373 pounds from October to December of 2019.
Steer was arrested in March 2020 in North Vancouver after passengers of a transit vessel noticed seemingly illegal crab fishing in the waters off the harbour in Vancouver. The Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans approached an aluminum vessel, and after an eight-minute chase, the vessel was boarded by officials and Steer and two others were arrested with 255 Dungeness crabs, crab traps and bait.
Before the arrest, Steer was observed throwing his cellphone into the water, which was recovered by divers from the department. Also found were Steer's driver's licence, debit and credit cards. Cellphones from the two other individuals were seized and based on information gleaned, officials were able to find more information on the operation, including money transfers.
In addition to fishing equipment, the search of Steer's home also yielded documents and receipts related to boat outfit improvements and items related to commercial fishing.
The judge found that Steer and the company not only violated a 2016 court order, but also a 2013 B.C. provincial court order with prohibitions on fishing-related activities.
The accused "actively orchestrated every aspect of the entire illegal sea cucumber operation of harvest and sale," Crerar said, and "evidence overwhelmingly indicates that the accused numbered company was a sham, incorporated primarily to attempt to evade … earlier prohibitions, and otherwise to insulate Steer from the criminal and other consequences of his illegal fishing activities."
Shaun Tadei, field supervisor in Nanaimo for DFO, said an extraordinary amount of evidence was collected and the decision was satisfying.
"With all the material that we were able to compile in our investigation, our Crown prosecutors were able to get a guilty conviction after a very lengthy trial … we're very happy with the outcome of this trial, and we look forward to hearing what [happens at] sentencing," he told the News Bulletin.
The 29-day trial took place this past July and December. Dates for the two-day sentencing hearing are expected to be established on Monday, Jan. 13.
