In December the provincial court at Bonavista has convicted two fish harvesters from Bonavista. Hedley Butler was fined $1,500 and prohibited from fishing lobster for the first 10 days of the 2009 lobster fishery for possession of undersize and v-notched lobster. Darrin Cooper received a $1,000 fine and is prohibited from fishing lobster for the first five days of the 2009 lobster fishery for possession of undersize lobster.
According to the local source these convictions resulted from a boat patrol in the Bonavista Bay area in June 2008. DFO fishery officers from the Clarenville detachment inspected the fish harvesters’ holding crates and found undersized and v-notched lobsters. After the probe the lobsters were returned to the water alive after being processed as evidence.
In another case in November the provincial court at Harbour Breton has convicted Daniel Baker of possession of v-notched lobsters. Baker received a $1,200 fine and a one day suspension at the start of the 2009 lobster season. He also forfeited his catch. At the inspection by DFO fishery officers at the wharf in Harbour Breton it is found that 11 v-notched female lobsters in Mr. Baker’s catch. The lobsters were seized as evidence, photographed and released back into the water alive.
It is fact that v-notching is a voluntarily practice amongst commercial lobster harvesters where one in four egg-bearing female lobsters is given a V-shaped cut in a section of the tail fan. DFO is committed to the conservation and protection of lobster resources in Newfoundland and Labrador.
