R. v. ALS Fisheries Ltd.

R. v. ALS Fisheries Ltd.

Judge held that 'accurate' requires reasonable precision and care assessed in context; applying that standard to each trip, the Crown proved certain logged/hailed weights were not reasonably accurate and proved unmonitored offloads on May 8 and June 12, 2020. Henneberry was found captain and guilty on multiple counts where documentary and circumstantial evidence met the standard; ALS and Law Fisheries were held liable under s.78.4 for licence-holder supervisory failures. Zakhour was acquitted on the unmonitored-offload party charge because the Crown failed to prove he knew the offload would be unmonitored, but was convicted under s.63(1) for making false or misleading statements to...

Citation
2022 NSPC 30
Parties
Crown: Her Majesty The Queen; Accused Licence Holder (corporation): A.L.S. Fisheries Ltd.; Accused Licence Holder (corporation): Law Fisheries Ltd.; Accused Captain/individual: Casey Henneberry; Accused Individual: Samer Zakhour
Court
Nova Scotia Provincial Court
Jurisdiction
Canada
Judgment Date
2 September 2022
Procedural Posture
Criminal Regulatory Offences (fisheries Act) / Trial Verdict (provincial Court Decision)
Outcome
Verdicts rendered: A.L.S. Fisheries Ltd. guilty of Counts 2 and 3; Law Fisheries Ltd. guilty of Counts 4, 5 and 6 (specific trips as detailed in reasons) and not guilty of Count 8; Casey Henneberry guilty of Counts 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 (specific trip-based findings), not guilty of Count 8; Samer Zakhour guilty of Count...
Legal Topics
Strict Liability, Licence Conditions, Hails and Logbooks, Dockside Monitoring, Party Liability, Identification/recognition Evidence, False Statements to Enforcement Officers
Source Language
English
Criminal Law Fisheries Law Regulatory Offences Evidence Law Strict Liability Licence Conditions Hails and Logbooks Dockside Monitoring +3 more

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Parties

Her Majesty The Queen

Crown

A.L.S. Fisheries Ltd.

Accused Licence Holder (corporation)

Law Fisheries Ltd.

Accused Licence Holder (corporation)

Casey Henneberry

Accused Captain/individual

Samer Zakhour

Accused Individual

Procedural Posture

Criminal Regulatory Offences (fisheries Act) / Trial Verdict (provincial Court Decision)

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether weights reported in hails/logs were 'inaccurate' under licence conditions
  2. 2 Whether groundfish were offloaded from the Ivy Lew without a dockside monitor (DSM) on specific dates
  3. 3 Whether Casey Henneberry was the vessel operator/captain responsible for inaccurate hails/logs or unmonitored offloads

Ratio Decidendi

Judge held that 'accurate' requires reasonable precision and care assessed in context; applying that standard to each trip, the Crown proved certain logged/hailed weights were not reasonably accurate and proved unmonitored offloads on May 8 and June 12, 2020. Henneberry was found captain and guilty on multiple counts where documentary and circumstantial evidence met the standard; ALS and Law Fisheries were held liable under s.78.4 for licence-holder supervisory failures. Zakhour was acquitted on the unmonitored-offload party charge because the Crown failed to prove he knew the offload would be unmonitored, but was convicted under s.63(1) for making false or misleading statements to...

Court Disposition

Verdicts rendered: A.L.S. Fisheries Ltd. guilty of Counts 2 and 3; Law Fisheries Ltd. guilty of Counts 4, 5 and 6 (specific trips as detailed in reasons) and not guilty of Count 8; Casey Henneberry guilty of Counts 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 (specific trip-based findings), not guilty of Count 8; Samer Zakhour guilty of Count...