Suspected poaching boat gutted by fire

SHELBURNE, Nova Scotia, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Fire destroyed an impounded and dry-docked Canadian lobster fishing boat suspected by federal officials of being used for poaching off Nova Scotia, police said.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police called the blaze early Wednesday "extremely suspicious" and arson investigators were examining the wreckage in Shelburne, in southern Nova Scotia.

An explosion that triggered the fire was so powerful, the first 911 emergency call came from 4 miles away, the Halifax Chronicle-Herald reported.

The boat was seized by undercover fishery officers in May. Its owner and two crew members were charged with harvesting undersized lobsters but pleas haven't been entered in court, the newspaper said.

Officers allegedly seized 35 crates containing 5,330 lobsters weighing more than 2 tons at the time of the arrests, the newspaper said.

Two boats on either side of the boat were also badly damaged and one of their owners said 15 fishing crew and shore workers will be out of work as a result, the report said.