A Lake Erie commercial fisherman has been fined $4500 after pleading guilty to multiple violations tied to abandoned gear and reporting failures.

According to a report form the Chatham Daily News, citing the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Robert Johnston of Wheatly pleaded guilty in the Ontario Court of Justice to failing to retrieve gill nets from Lake Erie within eight days, failing to report lost nets to a conservation officer, allowing fish suitable for human consumption to spoil, and failing to submit accurate daily catch reports and maintain a complete logbook.

The court heard that in March 2025, conservation officers received a public complaint about a possible abandoned gill net near the village of Wheatley. Officers located the net and, through an investigation, determined that Johnston, captain of the commercial fishing vessel Dorothy J, had set gill nets on March, 3 2025. Some of the nets were later lost and abandoned.

Commercial fishing on Lake Erie is regulated through licenses issued by Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources, which include conditions designed to support the long-term sustainability of the fishery.

The ministry encourages the public to report natural resource violations through its site.