Ignore the rules...get the fines.

Noteven, agree that the article was vague and your question was a valid one. Your question also leads to the point that the national boundaries in that area (to include some of the islands) have been in dispute for years; it has been a long, long time since my college years, but I think since before Canada was its own country. Since both the US and Canada have agreed to disagree on certain boundaries (rather than shoot at each other), the RCMP gave them (probably commercial vessels making money) low fines and said "just go away." Believe me, those passengers on those vessels were not poor people, and those fines were a drop in the bucket. And seizing assets would be something they would turn over to someone they knew in the State Department. Yes, I wish the article had much more detail.