N.S. lobster pound guilty of 'egregious' handling of egg-bearing female lobsters

One of Nova Scotia's largest lobster pounds has been convicted for holding undersized and egg-bearing female lobsters at its facility on Cape Sable Island.

Atlantic ChiCan pleaded guilty in provincial court Thursday on two Fisheries Act charges and was fined $25,000 and ordered to pay another $50,000 into an environmental damages fund.

"This was an egregious amount"of egg-bearing, or berried, female lobster that were located and seized by fishery officers,federal Crown lawyer Derek Schnaresaid in Shelburne provincial court.

Fishery officers inspected the big pound atthe Orion Wharf Road plant in January 2019.

They found three crates containing 132 egg-bearing female lobsters that had been in storage for a week. It wasn't the first time.

In 2017, inspectors found egg-bearing females stored in the same place inside the plant and warned the company to stop.

To avoid stress, egg-bearing females found in shipments are supposed to be returned to the water within a day.

Six more egg-bearing females and 32 undersized lobsters were found elsewhere at the plant. The company did not measure the length of the lobsters at the time to determine size compliance.

Schnare said the company should have known better.

"This is a very large lobster plant that is well aware of the rules and regulations required of them under the rules and regulations," he said."There was a complete failure in this case to establish a proper process and procedures."

Atlantic ChiCan was charged with one count for holding the berried lobster and one for the undersized lobster found at the plant.

Two other charges were dropped by the Crown.

Atlantic ChiCan lawyer Matthew Fraser said the company admitted its failure.

"Clearly in this instance there is a lack of due diligence exerted," Fraser told Judge Jim Burrill.

"The corporation takes responsibility for the actions of its employees and by virtue of the guilty plea they admit to fault for not returning these lobsters," he said.

Company fired assistant manager, grading supervisor

The offences led to the firing of an assistant manager and grading supervisor.

Lobster industry veteran John CrandallNickerson was brought in to overhaul operations.

"The company's whole structure has changed," Nickersonsaid Friday.

The changes include hiring a quality control officer.

"The way we are handling our stewardship is in a lot more prudent way," he said.

Burrill accepted a joint recommendation on sentencing from Crown and defence.

He said the offence was exacerbated by the 2017 warning.

He acknowledged efforts made by Atlantic ChiCan.

"They are to be commended for ensuring something like this never happens again," Burrill said.

The charge relating to the relatively small number of undersized lobster inside a plant handling huge volumes earned a commensurately small fine of $5,000.

On the berried lobster charge, the company was sentenced to pay a $20,000 fine and an additional $50,000 penalty to be paid into afederal environmental damages fund.

The fines must be paid by Nov. 4. The company has until November 2023 to pay the rest.

Atlantic ChiCan was fined $50K in 2021

In December 2021, the company was fined $50,000 for illegally shipping American lobsters primarily to China and claiming they came from Canada.

Atlantic ChiCan pleaded guilty in provincial court in Dartmouth, N.S., to two counts related to mislabelling.

Between May and October 2019, the big holding facility on Cape Sable Island imported 63,000 pounds of live lobster from the United States and exported it as a product of Canada, according to an agreed statement of facts presented in court.