Gabriola Island resident Scott Stanley Steer has found himself in hot water after catching crabs illegally and leading police on a high-speed chase through Vancouver's harbour.
In a ruling dated Nov. 12, 2021, B.C. Supreme Court judge Justice Edelmann notes that Steer, who previously had a career as a fisherman, has a history of poaching, as well as cheating and defrauding employers due to "moral bankruptcy," according to previous rulings by other judges.
Thirty-eight-year-old Steer has served multiple stretches in jail for fishing-related infractions since 2013, and the ruling outlines his long history as a "cheat."
In this latest case, the facts show that the serial poacher led fisheries officers on a late-night, high-speed chase on March 2, 2020.
The vessel he was driving had no navigational lights visible and according to the Crown he engaged in "evasive manoeuvres, including hairpin turns" and had "near collisions" in the chase through the harbour.
Steer was ultimately arrested after the chase, and was found to be in possession of more than 250 crabs which he and two accomplices had poached.
At the time of his arrest he did not have a licence to fish, was prohibited from even being on board a boat due to one of many previous rulings against him, and was contravening the Fisheries Act as crab fishing was not permitted at the time even for those in possession of a license - and a moral compass.
Judge Edelmann sentenced Steer to six months in jail and a three-year probation order. He was also handed a "lifetime fishing prohibition and a prohibition from being on any fishing vessel," for the rest of his life.
The fate of the crabs was not made apparent in the ruling.
