Sambro, N.S., fisher, fish buyer, violated law during unmonitored halibut offloads, judge rules

A Sambro, N.S., fisherman, a fish buyer and two related companies have been convicted for Fisheries Act violations that included two unmonitored offloads of halibut in the middle of the night.

The charges centred on seven trips made by the fishing vessel Ivy Lew between May 2019 and June 2020.

In a decision released Thursday, provincial court Judge Elizabeth Buckle found Capt. Casey Henneberry guilty of five counts of failing to observe licence conditions.

Buyer Samir Zakhour was found guilty of making a false statement to a fishery officer.

ALS Fisheries was found guilty on two counts and Law Fisheries on three counts.

Henneberry, Zakhour and Law Fisheries were each found not guilty on a single count.

The Ivy Lew was found to have twice offloaded halibut without a dockside monitor present in the middle of the night.

In the first instance, May 20, 2020, the judge was not satisfied that a fishery officer carrying out surveillance from hundreds of metres away accurately identified Henneberry as present.

The second offload took place in Sambro at 2 a.m. June 12, 2020 — ten hours after Henneberry hailed in and unloaded catch in the presence of a dockside monitor.

COVID protocols in place at the time meant monitors did not go on board the vessel.

In the early morning fog, the Ivy Lew pulled into a different wharf in Sambro where dozens of halibut were offloaded without a monitor present.

When fisheries officers swooped in to make the bust, a person jumped from the boat and ran away. A pursuing officer lost that person in the gloom.

Henneberry was not among those arrested at the scene, but his wallet with $1,090 in cash and his driver's licence were found in the Ivy Lew wheelhouse. His personal belongings were also on board.

Fishery officers seized 7,461 pounds of halibut, gutted with heads off.