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ENVIRONMENT: Fish and wildlife trafficker given choice of $44,850 fine or 659 days’ jail time
        (AlbertaIndex, August 22, Friday) ---  A convicted fish and wildlife trafficker has been given the choice to either pay up a $44,850 fine by December 15 or spend 659 days behind bars.
        On August 12, Steve Fred Ladouceur of Lac La Biche pleaded guilty to a total of six counts of trafficking 33 whitefish, one northern pike, two deer and four moose in Alberta.

In sentencing, the sitting Provincial Court Judge cited the disrespect of Aboriginal rights and the fact these offences occurred for more than two years as aggravating circumstances.

Ladouceur was also issued a three-year probation order relative to the fishery offence and a 10-year judicial Wildlife Act order relative to the wildlife offences. Both orders set out conditions requiring Ladouceur to report his subsistence hunting and fishing activities to the Fish and Wildlife Division, Alberta Sustainable Resource Development.

Ladouceur’s wasn’t an isolated case. The agency told that court that between 2002 and 2004, it had obtained information about alleged ongoing illegal fish and wildlife trafficking in the Lac La Biche and Athabasca areas.

An intensive undercover investigation resulted in 64 charges under the General Fisheries (Alberta) Regulation and 12 Wildlife Act charges being laid against 30 individuals and one business, including the charges against Ladouceur.

So far the undercover operation has resulted in a total of $105,350 in fines for 11 individuals. Court dates in Athabasca, Lac La Biche, Desmarais, Fort Saskatchewan and Edmonton have been set for the next three months to deal with the remaining 19 individuals and one business.

This investigation began as a result of information received from citizens concerned with abuses of Alberta’s natural resources. Anyone who is aware of or suspects fish or wildlife resource abuses in Alberta should call the ‘Report A Poacher’ line at 1-800-642-3800 or their local Fish and Wildlife officer.

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