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[troutbreath]

Considering the damage that could be done if he released them $2000 is a joke.




Attempted crab smuggling nets $2,000 fine
  Vancouver SunFebruary 8, 2011
  A man who pleaded guilty to trying to smuggle an invasive species of crab into Canada has been fined $2,000 in Richmond Provincial Court, the Canada Border Services Agency said in a news release.

Wei Guo Chen was found with 17 mitten crabs inside a cardboard box after arriving at Vancouver International Airport on Sept. 30, 2010.

CBSA said he had signed a written declaration that he was not bringing any animals into Canada, but during a secondary inspection a CBSA officer found the box on Chen's luggage cart. The importation of live mitten crabs of the genus Eriocheir is prohibited under the Fish Inspection Regulations, the agency said.

"The mitten crab is a highly invasive species that can both affect human health and cause major ecological and economic damage," CBSA said in the release.

The crab is now established throughout much of Europe, including in the River Thames in England, and the U.S. In Europe it is thought to have arrived decades ago as tiny larvae in ballast water in ships from Asia.

In Asia, mitten crabs are often infected with a parasite that can affect humans. People who eat infected mitten crabs are vulnerable to a tuberculosis-like illness that can be fatal.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
 

[roeman]

A fine of 2000 is a perfect example of why people are not deterred from breaking the law whether it is to do with fishing or hunting.
Actually any other criminal activity.  It will never change until the day where the laws are sooooo drastic the risk is not worth the gain.
The day a politician is willing to change the penalties for illegal activities to fit the crime is the day I will vote for the first time.
How many people every year go to the West Coast of Vanouver Island with their own boats, vehicles and motorhomes.  And bring home more then allowed. Go up north and kill and animal out of season or not the right size. 
Whatever they took with them,  ALL their gear, everything should be lost.  Trophy hunters for grizzly or other animals, what a stupid sport.  300 yards away with a high powered riffle, wow, what a hero...
Humans are like a virus, the majority of us just keep taking and destroying what is around us...

It will end, maybe not in my life time, but it will end.

[Danube Boy]

A fine of 2000 is a perfect example of why people are not deterred from breaking the law whether it is to do with fishing or hunting.
Actually any other criminal activity.  It will never change until the day where the laws are sooooo drastic the risk is not worth the gain.
The day a politician is willing to change the penalties for illegal activities to fit the crime is the day I will vote for the first time.
How many people every year go to the West Coast of Vanouver Island with their own boats, vehicles and motorhomes.  And bring home more then allowed. Go up north and kill and animal out of season or not the right size. 
Whatever they took with them,  ALL their gear, everything should be lost.  Trophy hunters for grizzly or other animals, what a stupid sport.  300 yards away with a high powered riffle, wow, what a hero...
Humans are like a virus, the majority of us just keep taking and destroying what is around us...
It will end, maybe not in my life time, but it will end.

Agent Smith from Matrix would agree with you:

"I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet."

[bigblue]

Mitten crabs, AKA Shanghai crabs, are a highly prized delicacy in that part of the world.
I think it is highly unlikely that poor guy who got fined $2,000 would have released it into our rivers.
It most likely was headed for a pot of boiling water for a feast for his family and close friends.
I am NOT condoning what he has done, which is ILLEGAL, but I think a fine of that magnitude will serve well to deter this kind of action in the future.
Imagine having to pay a fine of $2,000 to share some delicacy, no matter how good it may be!
I am certain the authorities would have considered the circumstances behind the action before deciding on an appropriate penalty of $2,000.

[tuna]