For a Lobster to meet required catch size, the body part noted here must be 3 inches long
A lobster pound owner was fined $8,000 earlier this month for having nearly 100 undersized lobster. Daniel Barry Shatford, owner of Shatford’s Lobster Pound, changed his plea to guilty as his trial was set to get underway in Lunenburg provincial court. This was Mr. Shatford’s second conviction for violating federal fisheries regulations. He and his company were fined $20,000 last year for illegally fishing snow crab in a joint fisheries and RCMP operation that involved a tracking device hidden on a fishing vessel, an airplane and covert midnight stakeouts. Mr. Shatford also faces charges of unlawfully offering for sale mason jars of mussel meats June 2 that were not labeled and packaged in accordance with federal regulations and of processing fish or fish products April 28 without a processing license. Prosecutor Josh Bryson told Judge Anne Crawford that fisheries officers searched holding tanks at the pound Dec. 10, 2006, and found a total of 97 undersized lobsters. The lobsters had been there at least two days. “Lobsters should be dealt with diligently,” Mr. Bryson said, because they can deteriorate or could have had eggs attached to them. However, he said Mr. Shatford was co-operative and forthright with fisheries officers. “I accept this was a case of careless practice,” Mr. Bryson said, and that Mr. Shatford simply hadn’t been attentive enough in their care. Mr. Shatford said staff had been in the process of sorting and separating the lobsters and he told Judge Crawford he will be more diligent in the future. She imposed the jointly recommended fine against the company of $4,000 to be paid by Nov. 14 and $4,000 against Mr. Shatford to be paid by Jan. 9.