The Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources has charged two Nova Scotia, Canada-based seafood companies with purchasing illegally harvested lobsters as the government works to crack down on black market shellfish.
“The laying of these charges demonstrates the important work that the conservation officer service does to help protect Nova Scotia’s fisheries and support people and businesses that follow the rules. We look forward to ongoing collaboration with the service as our new fisheries compliance unit prepares to take the lead for fisheries enforcement going forward,” Nova Scotia Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Kent Smith said in a release.
Lockeport, Nova Scotia-based Independent Fisheries was charged under the Fisheries and Coastal Resources Act with “buying, selling, or possessing fish or fish products that were illegally caught, raised, or harvested and buying fish or fish products from a person who did not have a valid commercial fishing license.”
North West Harbor, Nova Scotia-based numbered corporation 3329874 Nova Scotia Ltd. was charged with the same two violations along with a third charge for not having a license for buying, processing, or selling fish.
According to the Nova Scotia government, the charges stem from a two-year investigation into illegal lobster-buying in Nova Scotia, which is ongoing. The charges were filed at the beginning of October, with pleas scheduled for 12 November.
“Nova Scotia’s conservation officers do vital work protecting our natural resources, supporting public safety, and standing up for the law-abiding harvesters and businesses that depend on a fair, sustainable fishery,” Nova Scotia Minister of Natural Resources Tory Rushton said in a release. “The recent charges they laid show that illegal activity will be taken seriously and that our officers are committed to protecting the integrity of the legal fishery and the coastal communities it supports.”
The Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources claims that up to 30 percent of annual lobster landings in Canada are never reported. Last year, the provincial government launched a new compliance unit to lead its crackdown on illegal fish buying and processing, and it recently increased the maximum fine for Fisheries and Coastal Resources Act violations from CAD 100,000 (USD 73,500, EUR 61,400) to CAD 1 million (USD 735,000, EUR 614,000). In January, Nova Scotia followed up that action by introducing higher fines for more than two dozen offenses.
“While most harvesters and buyers play by the rules, it has become clear in recent years that much more needs to be done to effectively deter and root out illegal or unreported transactions from our industry,” Lobster Processors Association Executive Director Nat Richard said last year. “This requires urgent and collaborative actions by both levels of government. Nova Scotia continues to show the way forward with the deployment of this new compliance team.”
