An individual has been fined $40,000 for engaging in the illegal trade of an endangered species
The Quebec component of an investigation into the illegal trade of Queen Conches, initiated in October 2006 by Environment Canada, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and fisheries officers from the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, ended in a guilty verdict and a fine totalling $40,000 for Michael Angelakis. This investigation was conducted in Quebec by Environment Canada’s Wildlife Enforcement Directorate from several regions in the country.
Angelakis, 31, from Laval, was found guilty on Monday, September 26, in Montréal Provincial Court. Angelakis was accused of importing a shipment of Queen Conches (Strombus gigas) into Canada without an export permit under the Columbia Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Not having a CITES permit is a violation under the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act.
Following a joint declaration of facts, Angelakis was given a $40,000 fine payable to the Environmental Damages Fund. In consideration of this, Angelakis was given an absolute discharge by the court.
