During the Sept 10 sitting of Jasper Provincial Court, Jesse Michael Muir was fined $1,000 for illegally catching bull trout and then dumping the fish. The young man pled guilty to the charge that he caught two bull trout in Jasper National Park on May 23, 2009, which is illegal as they are an endangered species.

After catching the fish, Muir posted photographs onto the internet for all to see, which resulted in the charges being laid.

He also admitted to later dumping the fish in the trash.

“The wonders of Facebook,” said Judge D.C. Norhiem in sentencing, “people’s vanity gets them every time.”

Prior to being sentenced, Muir told the court he was unsure what type of fish it was and thus, did not realize it was illegal to be catching it.

“I wasn’t given a pamphlet when I got my fishing license,” he added.

Norhiem explained to Muir that, “saying that is like a person saying they didn’t know they had to stop at a stop sign.”

“If you’re going to fish you must know the rules,” he said.