Enforcement news

On May 3, in Delaps Cove and at Digby wharf, in Nova Scotia, fishery officers arrested four people and seized a vehicle and 1,518 lbs of scallop meat worth $36,432.

These arrests and seizures result from surveillance conducted by fishery officers, during which they observed scallop being illegally transferred at sea from a licensed commercial vessel to a vessel that is not designated to fish scallop commercially.

Accurately reporting landings is essential to the sustainability of stocks, the integrity of scientific data and management decisions and the continued economic success of the fishery.

As this matter is currently under investigation, no further comment will be provided.

On April 20, Conservation and Protection fishery officers conducted inspections of traps that had been illegally submerged in the lagoons of the Magdalen Islands.

They informed the fishers involved that the ban on soaking traps remained in effect and that they were required to remove them from the water immediately. The fishers subsequently removed their traps, and the officers did not seize any equipment.

Should the situation reoccur, fishery officers will enforce current regulations and conduct seizures, and charges may be laid if necessary.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) wishes to reiterate that this practice remains strictly prohibited, as it violates current regulations. DFO had previously informed the industry of its position.

On March 26, 2026 in Digby Provincial Court in Nova Scotia, David Farstad pleaded guilty to fishing untagged lobster traps, contrary to the conditions of his commercial lobster licence and Section 43.4(1) of the Fisheries Act.

Mr. Farstad was sentenced to pay a $15,000 fine and forfeited 15 lobster traps and 582 lbs. of lobster, worth $9,894.

Lobster traps must be tagged so fishery officers can ensure they belong to a licensed harvester and that the harvester is fishing the amount of traps authorized in the conditions of their licence. This controls the fishing effort in the lobster fishery and supports the sustainability of the fishery for all harvesters.

Unauthorized harvest, possession and export of elver, and harvesting shellfish in prohibited areas is not tolerated - it is illegal and subject to enforcement action by fishery officers.

On March 24, 2026 in Digby Provincial Court in Nova Scotia, two individuals were convicted of unauthorized elver and shellfish harvesting offences that took place in 2024 and 2025.

Tia Hatfield was convicted of:

• Possession of elver caught in contravention of Section 33 of the Fisheries Act;
• Possession of elver without a licence, contrary to Section 3(1) of the Possession and Export of Elvers Regulations; and
• Obstruction of a fishery officer, contrary to Section 62 of the Fisheries Act.

Kenneth Parks was convicted of:

• Harvesting shellfish in an area closed due to contamination, contrary to Section 3(2) of the Management of Contaminated Fisheries Regulations;
• Possession of elver caught in contravention of Section 33 of the Fisheries Act; and
• Possession of elver without a licence, contrary to Section 3(1) of the Possession and Export of Elvers Regulations.

Ms. Hatfield was sentenced to pay an $8,500 fine, and Mr. Parks was sentenced to pay a $9,000 fine. As part of their sentence, items seized by fishery officers were also forfeit, including elver and shellfish harvesting equipment and two vehicles worth approximately $4,000.

These convictions stem from three separate occasions of unauthorized harvest and possession of fish.

Building on the increased compliance and order observed last year, fishery officers are working with harvesters toward voluntary compliance with the Fisheries Act and regulations to address any unauthorized harvest, possession or export of elver during the 2026 elver fishing season.

On March 9, 2026, in Yarmouth Provincial Court in Nova Scotia, Donovan Shand, Justin Goodwin and Denver d’Entremont were convicted for possessing fish caught illegally, in contravention of section 33 of the Fisheries Act, which prohibits the purchase, sale or possession of fish caught in contravention of the Fisheries Act or regulations.

Mr. Goodwin and Mr. d’Entremont were each sentenced to pay a $3,000 fine, and Mr. Shand was sentenced to pay a $6,000 fine. All seized elver fishing equipment was forfeited.

This conviction stems from surveillance and a resulting roadside inspection conducted by fishery officers on March 25, 2024, in Yarmouth County. Fishery officers arrested five people during the inspection and seized a vehicle and approximately 1.5 kg of elver, which were found stored in the back seat of the vehicle without water. The elvers were returned live to their river of origin.

Unauthorized harvest, possession and export of elver is illegal and subject to enforcement.

Building on the increased compliance and order observed last year, fishery officers will continue to work with harvesters toward voluntary compliance with the Fisheries Act and regulations to address any unauthorized harvest, possession or export of elver during the 2026 elver fishing season.

Fishery officers are already conducting pre-season inspections of elver holding facilities to support the enforcement of the regulations.

On February 25, 2026, in Digby Provincial Court in Nova Scotia, Blaine Hamilton was convicted of two counts of failure to comply with conditions of licence, contrary to section 43.4(1) of the Fisheries Act, for two separate offences:

• Misreporting scallop catch
• Failing to carry a Species at Risk Act (SARA) monitoring document

Mr. Hamilton was sentenced to pay a $6,000 fine.

Fishery officers detected the offences during an at-sea inspection near Digby on October 28, 2023.

The purpose of the SARA monitoring document is to record any interactions with species at risk. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) uses these records to inform the management and recovery of these species.

The conditions of commercial scallop licences also require harvesters to complete logbooks on a daily basis. The accuracy of the information in these logbooks is essential, as it is used by DFO to assess the health and sustainability of the scallop stock.

Unauthorized harvest, possession and export of elver is not tolerated.

On February 25, 2026, in Digby Provincial Court in Nova Scotia, Maurice Blades, Dwayne Corporon and Donald Usher were each convicted of possession of elver without a licence, contrary to section 3(1) of the Possession and Export of Elvers Regulations.

All three individuals are prohibited from being within 10 metres of where elver fishing takes place (inland waters and the highwater mark of any tidal waters), starting on April 1, 2026, for a period of two months, except while engaged in lawful employment. Mr. Blades and Mr. Usher were each sentenced to pay a $3,500 fine and Mr. Corporan was sentenced to pay a $2,500 fine.

Fishery officers detected these offences through surveillance and the inspection of a vehicle in Digby County on May 19, 2025. Fishery officers arrested all three individuals and seized a vehicle (worth $2,400); elver fishing and transport equipment; and 4.4 kg of elver worth approximately $12,320, which were released live into their river of origin. As part of these individuals’ sentencing, the seized items were forfeit.

On March 2, 2026, in Dartmouth Provincial Court, Cody Knockwood was convicted of three counts of failing to comply with conditions of licence, contrary to section 43.4(1) of the Fisheries Act, for the following offences:

• Failure to produce a licence upon the request of a fishery officer;
• Failure to complete a riverside weigh out of elvers on the Elver Monitoring and Traceability (EMT) application, which is mandatory for all harvesters to use correctly; and
• Failure to notify Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) of the end of an elver fishing trip through the EMT application.

Mr. Knockwood was sentenced to pay $3,000 and forfeit elver fishing and transport equipment.

This conviction stems from riverside surveillance conducted on May 5, 2025 in Halifax County with a Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (drone). This resulted in the arrests of three individuals (including Mr. Knockwood), and the seizure of two fyke nets, other fishing equipment and 40 kilograms of elvers worth approximately $112,000, which were released live back into their river of origin.

Building on the increased compliance and order observed last year, fishery officers will continue to work with harvesters toward voluntary compliance with the Fisheries Act and regulations to address any unauthorized harvest, possession or export of elver during the 2026 elver fishing season.

Fishery officers are already conducting pre-season inspections of elver holding facilities to support the enforcement of the regulations.

On March 4, 5 and 13, charges were laid in Yarmouth Provincial Court in Nova Scotia against four individuals for a variety of offences, including the use of illegally blocked groundfish nets, misreporting and failure to return bycatch to the water.

These charges stem from unauthorized fishing activities detected during an aerial patrol on January 14, 2026, over 130 km off the shores of Southwest Nova Scotia. During the patrol, fishery officers observed three vessels using nets that were “tied off” in order to catch more groundfish. Blocking or obstructing the net by tying it off prevents the majority of catch from entering the part of groundfish nets where smaller fish are released.

When the ends of groundfish trawl nets are illegally blocked, smaller, less mature fish are not able to escape the net to reproduce and contribute to the future of the stock.

After observing this offence, the vessels were directed to steam to Pubnico, where fishery officers conducted an inspection resulting in three arrests and the seizure of 107,413 pounds of catch, including haddock and pollock, worth $77,880.95. During the inspection, fishery officers discovered the harvesters had also misreported catch.

Accurate reporting is essential to the sustainability of fish stocks, the integrity of scientific data and management decisions and the continued economic success of the fishery.

On February 12, 2026 at Bridgewater Provincial Court in Nova Scotia, Ryan Williams of Shelburne County was convicted of the following offences:

• Two counts of catching and retaining elver without a licence, contrary to section 4(1) of the Maritime Provinces Fishing Regulations;
• Obstructing a fishery officer, contrary to section 62 of the Fisheries Act; and
• Failing to appear in court in accordance with a summons, contrary to subsection 145(3) of the Criminal Code.

Fishery officers detected the first elver fishing offence on April 7, 2024, in Yarmouth County during a roadside inspection following observations of fishing. Three individuals were arrested, including Mr. Williams. Fishery officers also seized a vehicle, elver fishing and transport equipment and 1.8 kg of elver, which were released live back into their river of origin.

Following up on complaints of suspected unauthorized fishing, fishery officers detected the second elver fishing offence on May 8, 2025, in Queens County through riverside surveillance, including the use of a drone. Two individuals were arrested while removing fyke nets from the river, including Mr. Williams. Fishery officers also seized a vehicle, elver fishing and transport equipment and 4 kg of elver, which were released live back into their river of origin.

The obstruction of fishery officers took place on September 19, 2024, in the waters of St. Marys Bay, Nova Scotia. Through surveillance, fishery officers discovered untagged lobster traps and seized the fishing vessel from which the traps were set. In an attempt to prevent fishery officers from towing the seized vessel, Mr. Williams piloted a skiff in an unsafe manner dangerously close to the fishery officers’ vessel while it steamed to Meteghan wharf with the seized vessel.

Mr. Williams was sentenced to 18 days in jail for failure to appear. Additionally, effective February 12, 2026, he is prohibited from being within 20 metres of inland waters, where elver fishing takes place, for one year.

All seized elver fishing equipment and both seized vehicles, valued at $3,000, were forfeited to the Crown.

On February 11, 2026 at Sydney Provincial Court in Nova Scotia, Todd Fraser pleaded guilty to:

• Possessing undersized lobster, contrary to section 57(2) of the Atlantic Fishery Regulations, 1985; and
• Setting lobster traps in an area of Sydney Harbour closed to fishing due to contamination, contrary to section 3(2) of the Management of Contaminated Fisheries Regulations.

Fishery officers detected these offences during routine inspections of commercial lobster fishing activities in the waters off Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

On June 16, 2023, fishery officers discovered 25 undersized lobsters (weighing approximately 22 lbs, and worth about $176) among an approximate total catch of 708 lbs of lobster. Fishery officers arrested three individuals, seized the undersized lobster, and released them live back into the ocean.

On July 10, 2025, fishery officers observed lobster traps set in an area of Sydney Harbour that is closed to fishing due to contamination. Fishery officers seized nine traps and released the catch live back into the water.

He was sentenced to pay a fine totaling $8,000 for both offences. He is also banned from fishing between June 8 to 13 when Lobster Fishing Area 27 is open, which will result in a loss of income.

On February 20, 2026, in Port Hawkesbury Provincial Court, Andrew Bourgeois and Émile Joseph Poirier, both residents of Nova Scotia, were jointly sentenced in relation to commercial lobster fishing violations that occurred in May 2025.

Bourgeois and Poirier had previously pled guilty to fishing lobster traps with invalid tags. Both of them received a seven-day suspension of their lobster licences for the beginning of the 2026 commercial lobster fishery. In addition, Mr. Bourgeois was ordered to forfeit $6,852, representing 50% of the value of the catch seized, along with forfeiture of 134 seized traps with associated ropes and buoys.

Mr. Bourgeois was sentenced for fishing lobster traps with no tags attached. The Court ordered him to have an operational vessel monitoring system on board his vessel for the entire 2026 lobster season as well as a $8,250 fine.

In addition, Mr. Poirier was found guilty for failing to mark his fishing gear with the vessel registration number set out in the licence, for which he receives a $1,000 fine. He was fined $1,000 for failing to fish with lobster traps that, in the exterior wall in each parlour, have at least one rectangular opening with a minimum height of 48 mm and a width less than 127 mm.

On February 17, 2026 during an inspection at a wharf in Sambro, Nova Scotia, fishery officers made one arrest and seized 7,469 lbs (round weight) of halibut, valued at $71,316.

Most of the seized halibut was hidden in a storage compartment of a commercial fishing vessel, and was not hailed in, documented, or presented for dockside weighing along with the rest of the commercial fishing vessel’s catch.

Accurate reporting is essential to the sustainability of fish stocks, the integrity of scientific data and management decisions and the continued economic success of the fishery.

On February 11, 2026 in Barrington Provincial Court in Nova Scotia, an individual was convicted of two counts of failure to comply with conditions of licence, contrary to section 43.4(1) of the Fisheries Act, for two separate offences:

• Failure to report retained cod bycatch while fishing for halibut in waters offshore of Southwest Nova Scotia on September 16, 2022
• Use of prohibited longline halibut fishing gear in Eastern Canyons Marine Refuge on April 15, 2023

The individual was sentenced to pay a fine totalling $15,500 for these offences.

Fishery officers detected these offences through aerial surveillance, which resulted in the individual’s arrest.

In the area where the individual was fishing at the time of their first offence (Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization Division 4X5Y), Atlantic cod is in the critical zone and can only be retained as bycatch. When catch is misreported, Fisheries and Oceans Canada does not receive the information about removals needed to make decisions that support sustainable fisheries.

Eastern Canyons Marine Refuge is home to fragile cold-water corals including Atlantic Canada’s only Desmophyllum pertusum (formerly known as Lophelia pertusa) coral reef. Bottom-contact fishing gear like longlines damages the corals themselves, which are slow to recover, and harms the fish and invertebrates that use the habitat created by the corals.

On January 12, 2026, in Bathurst Provincial Court, Yves Gautreau pleaded guilty to the following 3 charges under the Atlantic Fishery Regulations:

1. fishing lobster in a closed area
2. being in possession of 3 egg-bearing females
3. being in possession of 33 lobsters under the minimum size

These offences represent $10,000 in fines.

Mr. Gautreau was one of two individuals intercepted by fishery officers from the Shippagan Detachment in New Brunswick on August 28, 2024, while the lobster fishing season was closed in Fishing Area 23. They were found in possession of 84 lobsters, 33 of which were under the minimum allowable size, as well as 3 egg-bearing females. The charges against the second individual were dropped.

On December 4, 2025, at Barrington Provincial Court, in Nova Scotia, an individual pleaded guilty to two offences under section 43.4(3) of the Fisheries Act:

• Discarding dead tuna into the ocean, which is a way of misreporting or not reporting catch.
• Discarding monofilament fishing line into the ocean, which is harmful to fish habitat.

The offences are the result of an aerial surveillance patrol on June 12, 2021. Charges were laid on December 10, 2021 in Yarmouth provincial court.

Not reporting catch prevents fisheries managers from ensuring that harvest remains within established levels and prevents biologists from accurately assessing the status of the resource.

The individual has been ordered to pay fines totaling $11,000 ($8,000 for discarding dead tuna and $3,000 for discarding monofilament fishing line in the ocean) by January 29, 2026.

On December 22, 2025, charges were laid in Yarmouth provincial court against four individuals for offences under the Fisheries Act and regulations including fishing lobster without authorization and failing to comply with the conditions of a Food, Social and Ceremonial lobster harvest document.

These charges stem from a vessel inspection conducted on August 1, 2025, near Lobster Rock Wharf in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. The inspection resulted in the arrests of four individuals and the seizure of one vessel, 20 traps and 1,039 lobsters, which were released live back into the ocean.

Fishery officers work with Indigenous communities to ensure that any fishing activity taking place is in compliance with the Fisheries Act, and that harvesters can carry on with their activities without interference from others.

On October 23, 2025, in Saint John provincial court, a company pleaded guilty to violating s. 40(3)(g) of the Fisheries Act by not complying with a Corrective Measures Directive issued by a fishery officer to protect fish and fish habitat through proper sediment control at a construction site on Heritage Way in Quispamsis, New Brunswick.

• The Court ordered the company to pay a $30,000 fine by October 23, 2026. The Kennebecasis Watershed Restoration Committee is receiving the funds through the Environmental Damages Fund.
• The charge stems from a inspection conducted by DFO on October 27, 2022, when erosion and silt-laden runoff draining into the wetlands feeding Ritchie Lake were observed. Significant sediment deposits were found in the lake.
• The next day, fishery officers served a Corrective Measures Directive pursuant to s. 38(7.1) of the Fisheries Act to the company ordering them to install and maintain effective sediment and erosion control measures, among other requirements, by November 4, 2022.
• When the fishery officer returned to the construction site in early November, they found that the company had not complied with the Corrective Measures Directive in the required time frame.
• Ritchie Lake is home to many species of fish, including:
  • alewife
  • chain pickerel
  • pumpkinseed
  • white sucker
  • golden shiner

If you suspect that work or activities in or near water might be causing the harmful alteration, disruption or destruction of fish habitat, report it to both the federal government and your provincial or territorial jurisdiction.

Report harmful impacts to fish and fish habitat

• On October 21, 2025, at Antigonish Provincial Court, in Nova Scotia, an individual pleaded guilty to 2 offences under section 43.4 (1) of the Fisheries Act:
  • Unauthorized fishing within the Division 3O Coral Closure area.
  • Inaccurate hail-in for halibut species, by reporting less fish than was actually caught.
• The convictions stemmed from 2 incidents in 2024:
  • On November 29, 2024, the individual was observed fishing in the Division 3O Coral Closure area by the offshore unit out of Newfoundland and Labrador. He was directed to leave the area and was arrested for the violation when he docked on December 3, 2024.
  • The individual was arrested a second time on December 19, 2024 following a dockside inspection in Arichat, Nova Scotia. During the inspection, fishery officers found that he had provided inaccurate hail-in information by reporting he had 38% less catch than was actually onboard his fishing vessel.
• The individual has been ordered to pay fines totaling $10,000 ($5,000 for each conviction) by March 9, 2026, and almost $77,000 in cash from the sale of seized catch was forfeited.