Fishermen fined $4,500 for illegal fishing on Lake Joe

BRACEBRIDGE — Three eager fishermen caught fishing two weeks early have been fined after being found on Lake Joe.

An MNR conservation officer found the trio coming off Lake Joseph with 12 lake trout and one ling.

The Greater Toronto Area men were fined $4,500 for fishing in a fish sanctuary.

Nishra Shikany, Michael Anwaya and Quintin Janse Van Rensburg pleaded guilty and were each fined $1,500.

Justice of the Peace Linda Kay heard the case in the Ontario Court of Justice, Bracebridge, on June 6, 2018.

Court heard that on February 3, 2018, a Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry conservation officer was on snowmobile patrol in the Township of Muskoka Lakes.

Three anglers were contacted leaving the ice on Lake Joseph, which at the time was a fish sanctuary closed to fishing.

The anglers were in possession of 12 lake trout and one ling.

The fish were seized and donated to a local charity.

Ice fishing season on Lake Joseph opened on February 17, 2018.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry reminds anglers that fishing limits are in place to maintain a sustainable fishery so that anglers and other resource users may enjoy the resource in the future.

For further information on fishing regulations, please consult the Ontario Fishing Regulations Summary available at ontario.ca/fishing.

To report a natural resources violation, call the MNRF TIPS line at 1-877-847-7667 toll-free any time or contact your local ministry office during regular business hours. You can also call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). And visit Ontario.ca/mnrftips to view an interactive, searchable map of unsolved cases. You may be able to provide information that will help solve a case.