Operation Northern Fur leads to $20,000 in fines and a prohibition order for a Manitoba resident who illegally imported, exported, and transported wildlife

WINNIPEG, MB, Jan. 22, 2024 /CNW/ - The Government of Canada is committed to protecting wildlife that may be at risk of overexploitation due to unsustainable or illegal trade.

On January 10, 2024, Jeffrey Ross was fined a total of $20,000 at the Provincial Court of Manitoba after pleading guilty to four counts of violating the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act (WAPPRIITA). The fine will be directed to the Government of Canada's Environmental Damages Fund. In addition to the fine, Ross was issued a prohibition order which prohibits him from exporting, importing, selling, purchasing, and trading any wild animal species or respective parts and derivatives and from applying for a permit under the Act, for three years.

The charges laid by Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers are a result of Operation Northern Fur, a three-year joint investigation conducted by Environment and Climate Change Canada, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Manitoba Conservation Officer Service. Operation Northern Fur's goal was to dismantle a network of illegal wildlife trade activities both within Canada, and between Canada and the United States.

Operation Northern Fur resulted in charges for illegally importing, exporting, and transporting wildlife. In this case, some of the implicated animal parts were from a wolf and cougars, which are listed as Appendix II species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

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• The four WAPPRIITA charges include two counts of importing or exporting an animal part without a permit; one count of transporting an animal part out of a province without a permit; and one count of transporting an animal part out of a province when the part was taken, possessed, distributed, or transported in contravention of any provincial Act or regulation.
• Wildlife crime refers to the trade of wild plant and animal species in contravention with both national and international laws and regulations.
• There are many species at risk for illegal wildlife trade in Canada. High-risk species for the Canadian illegal market include bears (particularly Black Bears, Grizzly Bears, and Polar Bears), cougars, geese, lynx, moose, crabs, eels (elvers), lobsters, turtles (particularly Blanding's Turtles and Spotted Turtles), sharks, and wolves.
• Illegal wildlife trade not only affects Canada, but also poses a serious threat internationally. It is a major transnational organized crime, which generates approximately US$20 billion in criminal proceeds each year.
• CITES uses an international permit system, as implemented by national jurisdictions, to regulate trade in listed species.
• WAPPRIITA is the Canadian federal law through which Canada meets its obligations under CITES.
• CITES Appendix II lists species that are not necessarily threatened with extinction now, but that may become so unless trade is closely controlled. Importing and exporting species listed as Appendix II is allowed if the appropriate permits are obtained.
• Created in 1995, the Environmental Damages Fund is a Government of Canada program administered by Environment and Climate Change Canada. The Fund directs monies received from fines, penalties, court orders, and voluntary payments to projects that will repair environmental damage or benefit the environment. The Fund aims to invest in areas where the environmental damage occurred.

• The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
• The Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act
• The Environmental Damages Fund

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SOURCE Environment and Climate Change Canada