SURREY, British Columbia, February 7, 2007 -- A Vancouver
resident has been convicted of hunting migratory birds out
of season. The conviction follows charges laid under the
Migratory Birds Regulations, made pursuant to the Migratory
Birds Convention Act (1994) after an investigation by Wildlife
Officers of Environment Canada's Wildlife Enforcement Division
in Vancouver, B.C.
On December 18, 2006, Taras Tereshchak entered a guilty
plea in Surrey Provincial Court. The conviction results
from an incident which occurred on November 6, 2005, in
Delta, British Columbia where wildlife officers found Mr.
Tereshchak had hunted a juvenile Trumpeter swan, a species
of migratory bird for which there is no open season. Trumpeter
swans were once hunted and harassed to the point where,
in 1933, there were only 77 Trumpeter Swans breeding in
Canada and 50 breeding in the United States. Today, there
are close to 20,000 wild Trumpeter Swans, and the species
is no longer considered in danger of extinction.
A Provincial Court judge ordered Mr. Tereshchak to pay
an $800 fine and ordered forfeiture of the shotgun used
in the commission of the offence. Mr. Tereshchak has also
received an automatic one-year prohibition on hunting migratory
game birds.
The Migratory Birds Convention Act (1994) is an Act that
implements the Convention for the Protection of Migratory
Birds in Canada and the United States. Environment Canada
investigates offences with the objective of ensuring that
companies, governments, and the general public comply with
legislation and regulations that protect migratory birds.
Wildlife Officers support the conservation and protection
of Canada's natural capital through the enforcement of the
Migratory Birds Convention Act (1994), Canada Wildlife Act,
Species at Risk Act, and the Wild Animal and Plant Protection
and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade
Act.
Patrick Porter
Lisa Vitols
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