One of the 14 people charged in a highly publicized eagle poaching case in North Vancouver last year has been fined $1,450 after pleading guilty to two counts of trafficking of eagle parts.

Reynolds Collins of Chilliwack, B.C., is the first person convicted in the case, which began when dozens of mutilated eagle carcasses were found on the Burrard First Nations reserve on the North Shore in 2005.

Their talons and feathers had been cut off. 

Conservation Office spokesman Lance Sundquist said Collins was involved in selling the parts.

"He was involved in basically a craft store where parts of the crafts he was selling had eagle parts attached to them. And that's where the charges arose from."

Those crafts included walking canes decorated with eagle talons.

Punishment too lenient: critic

Bev Day, the executive director of the Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society, is critical of the fine, saying it's far too low.

"It's as much as saying, 'Don't get caught with your hand in the cookie jar next time.' It was what, 12 to 15 months for the investigation alone? What did that cost the government in dollars?"

Sundquist said Collins wasn't handed the maximum fine, as he played a minor part in the poaching ring.

He said that some of the others accused in the case who are alleged to have played a larger role in the eagle slaughter have yet to go to court.

"Obviously there are some players that are more engaged and more acting with intent than others. And that will all come out through the court process."

The 13 others charged in this eagle poaching case will appear in court in the coming months, facing charges ranging from possession of dead wildlife to the illegal export of wildlife.