Nova Scotia court orders fishing group to detail $10M lobster lawsuit
The alliance has 30 days to provide details of its allegations of an illegal buying conspiracy.
SAULNIERVILLE · The Unified Fisheries Conservation Alliance must provide specific names and details to support its $10 million lawsuit alleging an illegal lobster buying scheme, a Nova Scotia court has ruled. The alliance, representing thousands of commercial fishers in the Maritimes, sued Independent Fisheries Ltd., its president Xiaoming (Mark) Mao, and the owners of Fisher Direct Ltd. and Seawell Holdings Ltd. in November 2024. It claimed an investigation revealed a conspiracy to transport, process and sell illegally caught lobster from St. Marys Bay. The alliance argued the alleged scheme diminished lobster stocks and caused its members $10 million in damages.
Independent Fisheries and Mao argued the lawsuit's claims were too vague to mount a proper defence. They asked the court to compel the alliance to disclose the identities of all allegedly harmed harvesters and all alleged conspirators, along with dates, times and facts supporting Mao's liability. A judge dismissed that motion in January, stating the defendants would have opportunities for disclosure later in the case. The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal overturned most of that decision on Oct. 15, finding the alliance's claims were indeed too vague.
"Are they facing one conspiracy or more?" wrote Justice Cindy A. Bourgeois for the three-judge panel. "If multiple conspiracies, are the alleged co-conspirators the same or different in each? How can the appellants attempt to establish the lobsters in question were legally caught, and therefore legally transported, bought and processed, if the identity of the fishers is not plead?" The court gave the alliance 30 days to provide particulars of its claim. It must name all harvesters affected by the alleged illegal buying but not every member of the alliance.
An Independent Fisheries representative said by email the company is pleased the alliance must now provide facts first requested in 2024. A representative for the alliance said the group is fine with the ruling and will provide the requested information. In a separate proceeding earlier this month, the Nova Scotia government accused Independent Fisheries of buying illegally caught lobsters. The company has denied any wrongdoing, stating it uses a due diligence process to source lobster in season from legal licence holders and requires proof of origin for every transaction.
With files from The Canadian Press, CBC News and CityNews