{"id":10363,"date":"2025-11-18T07:28:28","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T10:28:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2025\/11\/18\/new-nova-scotia-compliance-inspectors-will-be-on-wharfs-in-seafood-plants-making-sure-lobsters-are-legal\/"},"modified":"2025-11-18T07:28:28","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T10:28:28","slug":"new-nova-scotia-compliance-inspectors-will-be-on-wharfs-in-seafood-plants-making-sure-lobsters-are-legal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2025\/11\/18\/new-nova-scotia-compliance-inspectors-will-be-on-wharfs-in-seafood-plants-making-sure-lobsters-are-legal\/","title":{"rendered":"New Nova Scotia compliance inspectors will be on wharfs, in seafood plants making sure lobsters are legal"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Province\u2019s new compliance unit to combat illegalactivities in seafood buying and processor sectorPublished Nov 17, 2025Last updated 6hours ago6 minute readLobster traps sit on a wharf in Yarmouth County. The provincial Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture wants to ensure that all lobster coming ashore is being recorded and purchased legally. TINA COMEAU Article contentNova Scotia\u2019s fisheries minister says everyone has a role to play in combating illegal fishing activity not just on the water, but on shore too. And so, the province is establishing a new, dedicated compliance unit to combat illegal sales and activities in the fish buying and processing sector.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentStanding inside Rudder\u2019s Seafood Restaurant and Brewery in Yarmouth on Nov. 17 \u2013 a week before the lobster fishery here was scheduled to start \u2013 Kent Smith, the minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, said the seafood sector is a vital driver for the economy. It creates jobs, feeds families, and supports communities.Article contentArticle contentArticle contentBut Smith also said it is estimated that up to 30 per cent of annual lobster landings in Atlantic Canada go unreported.Article content\u201cThis represents up to $400 million in lost taxable income for Nova Scotia,\u201d said Smith. Contributing to this are cash purchases that are not recorded.Article contentThe department\u2019s new compliance unit will target illegal seafood-related activities that are negatively impacting the sustainability of the province\u2019s resources, Smith said.Article content\u201cAs the regulator of the shore-based fish buying and processing sector, these inspectors will focus their activities on the wharfs and in seafood facilities where illegal activities occur,\u201d he said.Article content Tables were cleared out of a section of theRudder\u2019s Seafood Restaurant and Brewery in Yarmouth on Nov. 17, for an announcement made by Kent Smith, the minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, about a new compliance unit in the province. TINA COMEAUArticle contentThe unit will include four inspectors responsible for monitoring, inspecting, and investigating regulatory compliance across the province, and will act on offences.Article contentThe unit will work with federal and provincial enforcement services, including Department of Natural Resources (DNR) conservation officers.Article contentArticle contentThe four inspectors are actually crossing over from DNR to the fisheries department. Because DNR compliance officers have many responsibilities it pulls them in many directions, whereas as part of the fisheries department the new unit will be more hyper-focused.Article contentArticle contentEnforcement actions could include fines, licence suspensions, loss of licences, and formal charges.Article contentSmith said the province is also setting up a new audit program and developing stronger summary offence tickets with penalties to match the seriousness of the activity. Options on this front include suspending and\/or terminating a fish buyer and\/or processor licence.Article content Kent Smith, the minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, takes questions from the media after announcing the establishment of a new compliance unit in his department to combatillegal seafood sector activities in the buyers and processing side of the industry. TINA COMEAUArticle contentCONCERNS RAISEDArticle contentSmith said since becoming fisheries minister in September 2023, he\u2019s met with harvesters, buyers, and processors across the province and they\u2019ve repeatedly raised concerns over illegal activity within the seafood sector.Article contentHe said the sustainability of the fisheries begins on the water, and this is where the federal government has clear jurisdiction. \u201cWith the recent news of increased enforcement efforts by DFO, I am optimistic that our new federal government is taking this issue more seriously,\u201d he said.Article contentBut combating illegal activity must also happen on shore, Smith said, saying illegal activities harm the sustainability of the resource, the reputation of the industry, and the safety of communities.Article content\u201cThe unit will check wharfs for designated buyers and inspect buyer and processor facilities. The inspectors will verify that licensed terms and conditions are being followed and conduct record checks to ensure the seafood they have, has been purchased legally,\u201d said Smith. \u201cInformation gathered will also be shared with our enforcement partners to build larger cases against illegal actors where necessary.\u201dArticle contentArticle contentRelatedArticle contentSmith said the mandate of the compliance inspectors will be to visit every buyer and processing facility in the province, collect records and \u201cmake sure that our licensed buyers and processors are all on the up and up.\u201dArticle contentAsked if inspectors can receive tips on places or people they should be inspecting, Smith said in the future there will be a dedicated phone number and email address where people can provide anonymous tips.Article contentTHE PLAYING FIELDArticle contentKris Vascotto, the executive director of the Nova Scotia Seafood Alliance, said the new compliance unit speaks to the province\u2019s commitment to ensure a fair playing field for all enterprises in the seafood sector.Article content\u201cA focused compliance unit will help stamp out illegal activity and boost the prosperity for all participants in the industry,\u201d said Vascotto, adding this is something that the seafood sector has been asking for. He thanked the minister and province for listening, calling the unit welcome news.Article contentArticle content Kris Vascotto, the executive director of the Nova Scotia Seafood Alliance, said a new compliance unit announced by the province tocombat illegal seafood sector activities is welcomed news. TINA COMEAUArticle contentThe news was also welcomed by groups representing fish harvesters.Article content\u201cFrom a harvesting side, the captains, we definitely welcome this. This is good news. We\u2019ve been asking for this for a long time,\u201d said Dan Fleck, executive director of the Brazil Rock 33\/34 Lobster Association.Article contentFleck said unreported, unregulated, illegal fishing harms the industry, saying, \u201cIf it\u2019s not on the books, we don\u2019t know about it.\u201dArticle contentThat\u2019s problematic, Fleck said, because if landings aren\u2019t being properly reported, then the biomass data that DFO depends on for its scientific and harvesting plans is questionable.Article content\u201cWhen you\u2019re basing something on it, and you only have 70 per cent of your data, it throws all of your harvesting plans into question,\u201d he said. \u201cTo crack down on this illegal, unreported, unregulated fishery, we definitely welcome this.\u201dArticle contentBernie Berry, the senior fisheries advisor to the Coldwater Lobster, says 10 to 30 per cent of landings not being accurately reported is a problem.Article content\u201cI\u2019m glad this provincial government and the federal government are finally taking this seriously,\u201d he said, saying the issue has basically been ignored for 10 to 15 years. \u201cWe\u2019re hoping this expands more and more, although I know they can only do so much.\u201dArticle contentHe also hopes electronic logbooks that are eventually coming for fish harvesters will help in telling the seafood story in a more timely fashion. When paper logbooks are slow to come in, the lag time impacts the industry.Article content\u201cWe\u2019ve got questions about how healthy our stock is and what is happening,\u201d he said. \u201cWe should have real-time data, but we don\u2019t.\u201dArticle content Kent Smith, Nova Scotia\u2019s minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture (right) speaks with Bernie Berry and Dan Fleck, representing local fish harvester associations, following an announcement the minister made in Yarmouth on Nov. 17. TINA COMEAUArticle contentWATCHING YOUArticle contentThere have been harvesters and others in the seafood sector who for years have been asking the federal and provincial governments to increase enforcement not only on the water, but also on shore. Some may wonder with this latest provincial announcement: What took so long?Article contentArticle contentSaid Smith, \u201cIt took this long because we wanted to make sure we were doing the right thing and working with industry to make sure we\u2019re responding to the issues that they\u2019re addressing to us. Over the last two years, since I\u2019ve been minister, we\u2019ve increased the fines. We\u2019ve changed licence conditions. This is another step in improving enforcement activity that the province has responsibility over.\u201dArticle contentThe province has increased maximum fines for illegal seafood buying from $100,000 to $1 million for a first offence, and up to $2 million for a second offence. The fines are aimed at addressing illegal activity, such as the purchase of out-of-season lobster.Article contentSmith said as of yet, there haven\u2019t been any $1 million fines that have gone through the court system.Article contentHowever, the minister did say the department has 16 active investigations on the go.Article contentArticle content\u201cIt\u2019s not like we\u2019re not already doing enforcement activities. It\u2019s just that our enforcement activities, they\u2019re not as visible as the DFO\u2019s,\u201d he said, whereas the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, over the past couple of months, has taken to Facebook to make posts about the enforcement it has carried out and the arrests that have been made.Article content Part of the lobster catch brought ashore. TINA COMEAUArticle contentVascotto, meanwhile, says it benefits everyone for the seafood sector to know it is being closely monitored.Article content\u201cOne of the key parts that we\u2019re finding is we have a lot of things like licence conditions, things that we\u2019re supposed to be doing, but if nobody ever checks to see that those things are being done, it\u2019s very hard to make sure that you can translate that into real management decisions,\u201d he said.Article content\u201cThere\u2019s going to be eyes on the wharf looking at the transaction. There\u2019s going to be eyes looking at the records that are going into the department,\u201d he said. \u201cI expect that this is going to be a small step that is going to lead to bigger steps to bring everybody into a greater degree of compliance.\u201dArticle contentAdded Vascotto, \u201cSomebody is going to be watching you. This is exactly what we\u2019ve been asking for, for years, and it really is quite refreshing to see it actually being put into place.\u201dArticle contentArticle contentArticle contentArticle content<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Province\u2019s new compliance unit to combat illegalactivities in seafood buying and processor sectorPublished Nov 17, 2025Last updated 6hours ago6 minute readLobster traps sit on a wharf in Yarmouth County. The provincial Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture wants to ensure that all lobster coming ashore is being recorded and purchased legally. 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