Two separate lobster pounds in Nova Scotia are facing license suspensions due to having illegal lobsters on their premises.
Shag Harbour, Nova Scotia, Canada-based Fisher Direct and Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia-based Atlantic ChiCan have both been hit with license suspensions due to possessing lobsters from illegal sources, CBC reported.
Fisher Direct was caught with lobster harvested under an Indigenous license – a license that allows Indigenous Canadians to catch lobster for food, social, or ceremonial purposes. That license, however, bars the lobster from being sold commercially.
Federal fisheries officials investigated the facility in 2018 and found it had 48 lobsters that were caught under the Indigenous license on the premises. The department had previously tagged the lobsters with microchips to identify them.
In March 2022, Fisher Direct owner Tyler Nickerson pleaded guilty to violating Canada's Fisheries Act, which came with a CAD 15,000 (USD 11,300, EUR 10,276) fine, along with a requirement to pay CAD 5,000 (USD 3,766, EUR 3,425) into an environmental fund.
In January 2019, Atlantic ChiCan was convicted of holding undersized and egg-bearing female lobsters at its facility, CBC reported. The company is now facing a 21-day license suspension, which will come into effect December 2023.
Atlantic ChiCan was also convicted of ...
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