A Nova Scotia man has been fined $6,000 after pleading guilty to destroying the nests of a protected species of bird.
Environment and Climate Change Canada says Gerald Douglas Fulton was sentenced on Feb. 19 in provincial court after pleading guilty to violating one charge under the Species at Risk Act.
The agency says the Nova Scotia Department of Lands and Forestry received a call in August 2019 about a front-end loader near the nests of bank swallows, a threatened species, in Millville, N.S.
It says an investigation confirmed that Fulton destroyed the nests.
Fulton was ordered to pay a penalty of $5,000 and a fine of $1,000.
The agency says the $5,000 penalty will be directed to a federal government fund used for conducting research into the protection of bank swallows.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 17, 2021.