A Nanaimo man’s long-running illegal sea cucumber harvesting operation fell apart after an early-morning boat chase through the Vancouver Harbour on March 2, 2020.
After Seabus crew members reported a suspicious vehicle that appeared to be fishing in the dark, Scott Steer led Fisheries and Oceans officers on an eight-minute chase through the harbour, before they finally caught and boarded him under suspicion of illegal crab fishing. Before being caught. Steer threw his cell phone overboard, along with his driver’s licence, debit card and credit card. They were recovered three days later by divers.
Officers also seized the phones of Steer’s two accomplices, revealing evidence of several years of illegal sea cucumber harvests worth millions of dollars from locations as far north as Alert Bay.
Steer, was prohibited from fishing in 2013 but continued operating illegally. He funneled the harvests through his own numbered company, and falsified information for his buyers, who mostly shipped the product to China.
He was found guilty of six Fisheries Act violations, sentencing will happen at a later date.
The full judgment is available here.
