Ministry of Natural Resources conservation officer Jessica Junkin keeps an eye out for illegal fishing along the footbridge in downtown Port Hope

Eight Toronto area residents have been fined a total of $4,750 for fishing offences following a Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry enforcement blitz in May in the City of Kawartha Lakes.

Guoxin Zhang, of Toronto, Marko Mihailovic, of Toronto, Ian Martin, of North York, and Liqiang Liu, of Scarborough, pleaded guilty and were each fined $500 for fishing in a fish sanctuary.

Xianlin Yu and Qi Wen He, of Markham, pleaded guilty and were each fined $750 for fishing in a fish sanctuary.

Se King Wu, of Markham, pleaded guilty and was fined $500 for fishing without a licence. In addition, Wu was observed throwing his bucket into the water as a conservation officer approached him, which prevented the officer from inspecting the contents.

Cong Luu, of Toronto, pleaded guilty and was fined $500 for fishing in a fish sanctuary and $250 for fishing without a licence.

The court heard that the charges were laid by conservation officers between May 12 and 19, during an enforcement blitz focused on illegal activity around fish sanctuaries in the City of Kawartha Lakes, according to a release from the ministry.

Justice of the peace Martha De Gannes heard the cases in the Ontario Court of Justice in Lindsay on June 23.

NOTES: Fishing regulations can be found in the Ontario Fishing Regulations Summary available at ontario.ca/fishing…. Natural resources violations can be reported to the MNRF TIPS line at 1-877-847-7667 toll-free any time or local ministry offices during regular business hours. You can also call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.