N.S. judge rejects $170K compensation claim over seized lobster

The owner of a lobster pound has failed in his bid to be compensated for lobster that were seized by fisheries officers and dumped back into the ocean.

A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge has ruled the lobster were not caught or sold by someone who possessed a commercial licence.

Rockville Carriers Ltd. operates a pound in Town Point, Yarmouth County.

The company sued the federal government for compensation.

On Nov. 15, 2019, fisheries officers raided the Rockville compound and seized more than 5,200 kilograms of lobster that had been delivered that morning. The lobster came from Kylie and Boys Fisheries, which is owned by David Pictou.

According to an affidavit presented in court, fisheries officers met with Rockville owner Wentworth Porter that day and told him Pictou did not have a commercial licence.

Due diligence

Clark Deveau, a senior fisheries officer with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, told the court he felt he had only two options: if the lobster were caught legally, the department could sell them and give the proceeds to Rockville, or if they were not caught legally they could be returned to the sea.

Deveau said he and his team determined the lobsters were not caught by someone with a commercial licence, so the were dumped.

In a ruling released Wednesday, Justice Peter Rosinski noted that Rockville and its owner were not charged with anything.

However, the judge also rejected the company's claim that it should be reimbursed for the lobster and the crates that contained them.

Rockville had been asking for almost $170,000 as the value of the seized lobster, plus damages.

The judge said Porter and Rockville should have exercised due diligence to ensure that the people they were buying lobster from were legally allowed to sell them.

 "No persuasive credible evidence of such was presented by Rockville at this trial," Rosinski wrote. "There was no due diligence or reasonable and honest belief that the lobster were lawfully fished."