A British Columbia man was fined thousands of dollars Wednesday after pleading guilty to multiple separate bear-trafficking charges in Port Coquitlam provincial court.

Fifty-two-year-old Hong Tao Yang of Abbotsford pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking bear paws and one count of trafficking bear parts.

He was fined $8,625.

According to the Crown, in August 2022, the BC Conservation Service (COS) was notified by a member of the public that an employee at a Maple Ridge recycling facility asked if he had black bear paws to sell.

The employee was later identified as Yang, the court heard.

Between August and October 2022, an undercover COS officer, posing as a hunter, attended the recycling facility, establishing a relationship with Yang.

The court heard that on three occasions the undercover officer sold Yang bear parts, each time notifying him that this was illegal.

The Crown conceded there was no evidence to suggest Yang resold the parts and agreed the minimum fine for each charge was appropriate.

Provincial court judge Nicholas Preovolos accepted the defense’s contention that Yang was using the pieces for traditional Chinese medicine.

Outside court, conservation officer Jordan Ferguson told reporters that COS hoped this would deter others from committing these types of offences.

“Being in possession of these parts is illegal, whether it’s just for personal use,” he said. “When you create a market just buying these items, it can escalate and more people start doing it, and then we have problems with animal populations.”

He says it is essential that people who hear or see any suspicious activity contact the Report All Poachers and Polluters hotline.

“We rely heavily on members of the public. There are only so many conservation officers in the province,” Ferguson said.

Yang was given 18 months to pay the fine.