An Island fisherman was fined $8,000 and is banned from owning explosives for three years after he admitted to throwing a modified explosive device at sea lions off Hornby Island.
Allen Marsden was charged with two counts under the Federal Fisheries Act and another under the Explosives Act after he tossed a “bear banger,” a flare that emits a loud bang like a gunshot, from a commercial fishing vessel into a group of sea lions in March 2019. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada launched an investigation after a video circulated on social media.
Marsden, a commercial herring harvester, pleaded guilty on Aug. 24 in Courtenay Provincial Court to disturbing marine mammals under section 7.1(b) of the Marine Mammal Regulations, which states that: “No person shall disturb a marine mammal except… when fishing for marine mammals under the authority of these Regulations.”
His court appearance was initially scheduled for March 26 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The maximum fine for a conviction under the Fisheries Act is $100,000 or one year in prison, while the maximum fine under the Explosive Act is a $50,000 fine.
Marsden told the Canadian Press last year that he was just trying to scare the sea lions and not harm them.
“This was not a case of going out there and trying to kill all the sea lions,” Marsden said at the time. “I was trying to figure out a way we could work out there with those lions. So I was trying to figure out how long I had from the time I set the net, because I know when the sea lions show up, the chance of me getting fish is zero, it’s absolutely zero.”
He also said he had been attacked by a sea lion three years earlier while working on his boat.
- with files from the Canadian Press