WEDGEPORT, Nova Scotia, May 28 (UPI) -- Canadian fisheries officials arrested three men in southwestern Nova Scotia after seizing 5,300 undersized lobsters from a fishing boat.
Department of Fisheries and Oceans Field Supervisor Dan Fleck told the Globe and Mail newspaper by telephone from Wedgeport the seizure was the largest he has ever seen.
"We're still sort of awestruck," Fleck said. "This is money-driven. This is disregard for the resource and for their fellow citizens."
He said the men charged had valid lobster permits and therefore had to know size limits and quotas for the season, which ends in a few days.
It was the men's own behavior that caught them up, he said. DFO received tips lately of strange activities at odd hours and Fleck said a surveillance program was set up in recent weeks that included aircraft.
The arrests and seizure of the boat were made when it docked late Monday night.
"We were waiting for them," Fleck said to the Globe and Mail, adding most of the lobsters were released back into the sea.
