Tag Archives: one undersized lobster

NEIFCA lobster fine reduced by £30k on appeal

Bridlington fisherman Sam Laws has successfully appealed parts of his conviction, and a huge fine imposed by the Magistrates’ Court in Scarborough, after proceedings brought by the North Eastern Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (NEIFCA). His original conviction related to the landing of two berried lobsters, one undersized lobster, 11 soft-shelled lobsters and three mutilated lobsters. He was prosecuted in his personal capacity as skipper of the vessel Our Helena R 51. For reasons that are unclear, NEIFCA took no action against the owner of the vessel, which was a limited company – a factor that was to become important down the line. “In court, the NEIFCA lawyer clearly knew nothing about the issue or fishing. Then I was fined over £30,000! It wasn’t just that; I was made out to be a real criminal when the case was reported. My phone was red hot afterwards, with fishermen from all over saying it was outrageous, and to appeal.”   more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:01

Fisherman fined for one undersized lobster

A Merigomish fisherman was fined $2500 for having one undersized canner lobster in his catch. Percy John Hayne entered a guilty plea in Pictou provincial court Monday to having a lobster measuring less than 76 mm in his catch on May 31, 2017, in Lismore. Fisheries officers were at the Lismore wharf when Hayne was unloading his lobster catch. The market lobsters measured the proper limit but one of the lobsters picked out of the 95-pound catch of canners was undersized. click here to read the story 19:50