Stephanie Choate, U.S. angler caught up in DFO sting, says she followed the rules

A competitive American angler says she was not involved in a banned practice known as "high-grading" while fishing for tuna in Nova Scotia.

Stephanie Choate, 30, says she was taking part in catch-and-release sport fishing while in the province in September and October 2014.

Choate says a fish harvested on Oct. 3 was "caught legally under a commercial tag license."

And she says she's sorry if a photo showing her "exuberant celebration" is seen by some to reflect poorly on the conservation group she represents. 

A CBC Nova Scotia investigation revealed this week that Choate is named in court documents in connection with a DFO case involving three fishermen in Antigonish County. Choate is not the target of the investigation and is not facing charges.

Fisheries officers allege, in documents submitted to the court, the woman who appears to be Choate and the crew took part in a practice known as "high-grading"  which involves catching a tuna but waiting to tag it in the hopes of catching a larger one.

The allegations stem from a DFO sting operation that took place in Oct. 2014. Undercover officers posing as customers chartered the Zappa 1 out of Ballantynes Cove and spent three days fishing with the crew under George William Boyle's catch-and-release licence.

In the court documents, DFO says fishing log records indicate the crew was operating under a commercial licence during the period Choate was believed to be onboard.

They say, under the rules of a commercial licence, the holder/operator must "immediately tag a bluefin tuna after it is caught."

"A fish is considered caught when the fish is brought next to the vessel and includes swimming it to cool it down."

In court documents, DFO says it has reason to believe that Choate was in Nova Scotia trying to catch a world record-size bluefin tuna.

The court documents say one of the officers said Trenholm told him Choate had caught ten tuna before landing one which weighed 928 pounds.

In a statement, Choate says "I most definitely was not involved in any form of 'high-grading' while tuna fishing in Nova Scotia."

"There were 10 fish caught and released in over 10 days — not in one day, as the claims of high-grading allege. It is within the legal limit to catch and release a tuna per day."

Choate says "the tuna caught prior to the fish that was harvested on Oct. 3 were released strong and healthy back into their natural environment."

Her statement was posted to the website of Wild Oceans, a conservation group in the United States. Choate is a board member.

According to court documents, DFO says Choate fished for an intermittent nine-day period between Sept. 18 and Oct. 3 on the Zappa 1.

They say log documents for Sept. 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 28, and Oct. 1, 2 and 3 indicate that commercial bluefin tuna fishing activity took place onboard the vessel for those nine days.

Choate says a photo, posted to Instagram, showing her straddling a tuna with a wine bottle in her hand, "was a private photo shared with friends and family who would understand my passion and never meant to be public.

"I have always respected the great animals we fish for and I'm sorry if my exuberant celebration is seen by some to reflect poorly on Wild Oceans and the work they do."

Over a three-week period, CBC News repeatedly requested interviews with Choate and Wild Oceans.

In an e-mail before the story was published, Wild Oceans president Ken Hinman said the practice of "high-grading" is not responsible fishing, As for any further comment he said "we will wait to hear the whole story."  

In a statement published Wednesday on its website, Wild Oceans calls the allegations "unsubstantiated." It says they are contained in a preliminary DFO report "in which officers characterize events and behavior they admit they did not witness but only misheard second-hand." 

Statement from Wild Oceans:

The press has us over a barrel, don't they? As Mark Twain observed, "If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you do read the newspaper, you're misinformed." Anyone who read the November 17 CBC News report, "International Angler Caught Up in Bluefin Tuna Sting," in which a Canadian charter captain and crew are accused of high-grading bluefin tuna, has been misinformed.

Below we print a response to that article from Stephanie Choate, who was fishing with the crew prior to "the sting" (i.e., entrapment) but nevertheless "caught up" in the controversy. Ms. Choate is a volunteer member of the Wild Oceans Board of Directors.

But first let us say that in 2015, everyone should know better than to believe everything they read and certainly not to jump to conclusions based on a single "news" report, especially one that was plainly written to promote a narrative rather than portray events as they actually occurred. Frankly, it is deeply disturbing that CBC News had no qualms about broadcasting unsubstantiated allegations against Ms. Choate and by association Wild Oceans; because that's all they are, allegations contained in a DFO investigative report, a preliminary one at that, in which officers characterize events and behavior they admit they did not witness but only misheard second-hand.

When asked by CBC for comment on the allegations, Wild Oceans stated its strong opposition to the practice of tuna high-grading. But we decided to carefully review all the facts before discussing any specifics in public and we expected the reporter to do the same.  But he evidently wanted to be fast and first with what he saw as a sensational story and as a result he got it all wrong.

As is made clear in her response below, if Ms. Choate is guilty of anything, it was in believing that by not dignifying these claims by talking to the reporter she was protecting her integrity.

Statement from Stephanie Choate​:

"I most definitely was not involved in any form of 'high-grading' while tuna fishing in Nova Scotia in the fall of 2014.  I was catch-and-release sport fishing, which is done successfully and manageably all over the world for big game fish every day. The tuna caught prior to the fish that was harvested on October 3 were released strong and healthy back into their natural environment.  There were 10 fish caught and released in over 10 days – not in one day, as the claims of high-grading allege.  It is within the legal limit to catch and release a tuna per day. The charges in this case are against other people regarding activities that took place after I left Nova Scotia. The only basis for this article's accusations and insinuations against myself are HEARSAY and a likely case of fish crew bravado.  

"The harvested fish was caught legally under a commercial tag license which the crew is given every season. Using their legal tag, we went out to harvest their fish and the photograph is the result of achieving that goal. A giant blue fin tuna would have been harvested at some point during the season to fill the tag they received; it was the crew's choice to make it October 3 and this particular fish.  

"As for the image used by CBC, it was clearly chosen to sensationalize their story.  It was a private photo shared with friends and family who would understand my passion and never meant to be public.  I have always respected the great animals we fish for and I'm sorry if my exuberant celebration is seen by some to reflect poorly on Wild Oceans and the great work they do."