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A British Columbia man has been fined $7,500 after being caught in the possession of endangered northern abalone.
Fisheries officers caught the man in September 2025 after a tip from the Metlakatla Fishery Guardians, an Indigenous stewardship group that often collaborates with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) on enforcement.
DFO says the guardians suspected that harvesters fishing in the waters around Metlakatla, about five kilometres north of Prince Rupert, might have caught northern abalone.
Fisheries officers responded and found the man in possession of 10 of the mollusks.
Northern abalone is listed as endangered under Canada’s Species at Risk Act, meaning it is considered at risk of extinction.
The species — a marine snail related to clams, scallops and octopuses — is native to North America’s west coast and is highly valued for its meat, according to DFO.
Despite a total ban on harvesting the species in 1990, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada says the species has not recovered, and that poaching remains its most serious threat.
The DFO says the 10 abalone it seized were returned to the water alive, “to maximize their chance of survival.”
