Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) seized 17,834 pounds of halibut worth roughly CAD 170,000 (USD 120,000, EUR 105,000) after a multi-day surveillance effort.
In a statement posted to the department’s social media, DFO reported fishery officers spent multiple days off of the coast of Eastern Nova Scotia in early July surveying the offending vessel. The department said officers made multiple attempts to hail the vessel, and it continued to fish without responding, violating the nation's Oceans Act.
On 8 July, fishery officers boarded the vessel, which the release did not name, and directed the captain to a port in Louisbourg, Nova Scotia, to offload the catch. Following the boarding, DFO said it arrested the captain of the vessel for illegal fishing, obstruction, and failing to hail in.
DFO said an investigation of the violations is now underway.
