Scott Steer was convicted based partly on evidence from a cellphone that was tossed overboard during the chase in Vancouver harbour
A Nanaimo man has been found guilty of illegally harvesting and selling sea cucumbers, based in part on information seized from his cellphone that was tossed overboard during a boat chase in Vancouver harbour.
“SeaBus (crew) alerted police after observing what appeared to be illegal crab harvesting in Vancouver harbour from a stationary vessel, with no lights illuminated,” Crerar wrote in his judgment.
The Fisheries Department was notified and dispatched a vessel to investigate.
“Upon the DFO’s approach, the aluminum V-hull vessel sped away. After an eight-minute boat pursuit, the DFO vessel caught up and boarded,” Crerar wrote.
Court heard that Steer tossed his cellphone overboard just before the DFO boarding.
“Just before his arrest, Mr. Steer threw his iPhone 11 into the ocean near the dock,” wrote Crerar. “DFO divers retrieved the telephone three days later. Mr Steer’s driver’s licence, as well as Mr Steer’s personal CIBC debit card and Mastercard, were contained in the telephone’s case. Telus telephone records, obtained through a production order, show that Mr. Steer was the registered user of this telephone.”
Steer and the two other men on board were arrested at the scene and a complicated DFO investigation began. This led to the six counts alleging that he illegally caught and sold sea cucumbers, and had breached court prohibitions against possessing or acquiring fishing gear or vessels.
“By going through the telephone records, as well as searching Steer’s Nanaimo home and interviewing several people, officers revealed from July to December 2019, Steer bought vessels and a refrigerator truck, retrofitted the vessels for commercial fishing, bought fishing gear and supplies, incorporated the numbered company, obtained licences, recruited crew, generated false DFO records, oversaw and directed several sea cucumber fishing expeditions in closed areas and without licences, and sold those sea cucumbers,” Crerar ruled.
Steer “actively orchestrated every aspect of the entire illegal sea cucumber operation of harvest and sale,” the judge said, adding that the Crown had established its case with “extensive, exhausting, convincing, comprehensive, and corroborative evidence.”
According to the B.C. Seafood Alliance, Pacific sea cucumbers are highly prized in China and Hong Kong for their nutritional value and medicinal uses.
Sea cucumbers can only be harvested by divers employed by one of the 85 licence carriers in B.C. and only during certain limited times.