A Verner man has been fined $6,500 for trapping violations. Robert Desbiens pleaded guilty and was fined $3,500 for unlawfully harvesting more lynx than specified on his licence, $2,000 for exceeding the amassed quota of lynx on other trap lines as helper-trapper, and $1,000 for entering false information on his mandatory season-end harvest reports.
Desbiens, an instructor of the Ontario Fur Harvest, Fur Management and Conservation Course, is also prohibited from teaching the course for two years. A lengthy investigation by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry revealed that at least 11 lynx had been harvested, possessed and sold by Desbiens, who only had a quota for one. Justice of the Peace Diane Lafleur heard the case in the Ontario Court of Justice in Sturgeon Falls on January 16th.
The Ministry wants to remind licensed they must complete the mandatory season-end harvest report annually. This report records the total number of animals harvested, pelts sold or shipped to be sold, and pelts retained. Licensed trappers must also report to the ministry the accidental trapping of a furbearing animal above the licence quota or in the closed season in order to seek authorization to possess and sell the animal.