The Government of Canada is committed to protecting Canadian and foreign species of wild animals and plants that are threatened, or that may be at risk of overexploitation due to unsustainable or illegal trade.
On August 2, 2024, Bos Smoked Fish Inc. was fined $25,000 by the Ontario Court of Justice, in Brampton. The company pleaded guilty, on August 1, 2024, to one charge for violating the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act. This offence relates to illegally importing European Eel parts, including smoked eel and eel fillets. The $25,000 fine will be directed to the Government of Canada's Environmental Damages Fund.
In addition to the fine, approximately 662 kilograms of eel were ordered to be forfeited, which ensures that the illegally imported product is removed from the commercial market. The importer paid $35,000 for the eel meat.
In April 2023, Bos Smoked Fish Inc. imported 662 kilograms of what was declared as processed eel into Canada from the Netherlands. Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers inspected the shipment and took samples for DNA analysis. An Environment and Climate Change Canada laboratory determined that the majority of the imported product was European Eel.
The European Eel is listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Appendix II-listed species are species that need controls to protect them, therefore importers must obtain a permit to import them lawfully into Canada.
The company was charged with one count of importing European Eel, a CITES-listed species, without a permit, which is a contravention of subsection 6(2) of the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act.
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