Three men charged after Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) officers boarded a boat off Ocean Beach Esplanade in Elphinstone in late January will go to trial in March.
John Barry Grant, Lyle Donald Sparrow, Jr., and Arnold Robert Wilson were arrested after area residents reported seeing suspicious activity on the water. A boat and crabbing gear were also seized.
The men are charged with several offences under the Federal Fisheries Act and the Coastal and Pacific Fisheries Regulations, including fishing without a licence, purchasing, selling or possessing illegally caught fish, and fishing for prohibited species.
Sparrow is also charged with making false statements to a DFO officer.
At the time of the arrests, DFO officials estimated the value of crabs found in just one string of traps at $4,000.
Their trial has been scheduled for March 21 and 22, 2018 in Sechelt Provincial Court.
