Boat captain fined $5K for illegal fishing in marine protected area off Cape Breton

A Nova Scotia man has been fined $5,000 and ordered to forfeit his catch of halibut and cod after being convicted last month of illegally fishing in a marine protected area off Cape Breton Island.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans said Tuesday that Gregory MacMullin, 42, was the captain of a vessel that was spotted fishing in St. Anns Bank Marine Protected Area on Jan. 12, 2023.

The 4,364-square-kilometre protected area was established in 2017 and is located in waters off eastern Cape Breton. A portion includes a "high-protection zone" where all commercial fishing is banned.

DFO said in a statement that MacMullin pleaded guilty two weeks ago in provincial court in Sydney, N.S., to one count under the Oceans Act. DFO said it's the first conviction under the Oceans Act in the Maritime fishery.

In addition to being fined, he forfeited a catch worth more than $17,000 and must for the next 10 years use a national vessel monitoring system, a device that allows DFO to track a boat in near-real time.

DFO said MacMullin was arrested after his boat was spotted fishing in the restricted zone. Fisheries officers seized 1,951 pounds of halibut and 123 pounds of cod, according to the statement.

St. Anns Bank is one of more than a dozen marine protected areas in Canadian waters. DFO said it's home to vulnerable sea life such as sponges, sea pens, Atlantic wolffish and leatherback turtles.