Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Port of Vancouver are investigating a video posted to social media.
The video shows a group of Mandarin-speaking sailors hauling crab traps onto the deck of a large commercial vessel moored in Vancouver’s Harbour.
According to the online captions, the crew hauled in more than 440 pounds of crab.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada said it is aware of the video and said it shows multiple violations of harvesting regulations and that many of the crab appear to be undersized and female.
It’s also illegal to pull crab traps at night, as shown in the video, while the possession limit is four per person.
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The video also cuts to show the men cooking the crabs and then having a feast with a few beers.
In a statement, the Port of Vancouver said it will be working to inform visiting crews of Canadian licensing and regulations.
“Certainly it shouldn’t be an unknown to anybody that we have licensing, we have regulations and limits, especially around crab,” Jesse Zeman with the B.C. Wildlife Federation, said.
“This is another good example where social media does actually have some benefits. You know, quite often we’ll hear from the fisheries officer, they hear about these kind of infractions from the public… we can’t afford to have fisheries officers behind every bush or on every shoreline.”
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Penalties for poaching crab can range from a $500 ticket, with fines running into the hundreds of thousands of dollars and the court-imposed seizure of fishing gear and the vessel involved.
-with files from The Canadian Press
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