mr.x
August 9th, 2007, 07:32 AM
40,000 lobsters die at pound
Autopsies ordered to see if shellfish poisoned
By MICHAEL LIGHTSTONE Staff Reporter | 12:37 PM
It could be industrial sabotage, a dirty deed done with plenty of potent poison.
Perhaps it’s a vile vendetta among feuding fishermen.
Then again, maybe — just maybe — the premature death of 40,000 live lobsters in a Digby County holding tank was an accident.
Whatever happened to the crustaceans, one thing is certain. Local police say it is the strangest tale they’ve heard in a very long time, and the Meteghan case is the subject of a criminal investigation being helped by other government agencies.
Just what killed the tasty marine critters, before they were to be transported to market and onto lobster lovers’ dinner plates, remains a mystery.
"We have to get the lobsters autopsied," RCMP Sgt. Michel Lacroix, commander of the Meteghan detachment, said Tuesday. "When we have the answer from that, then we’ll be able to go in one direction."
Biologists from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans are doing post-mortems, Sgt. Lacroix said.
On July 27, police received a report of the alleged poisoning of lobsters at Acadian Group 2001 on Meteghan Wharf Road. The business is situated by St. Marys Bay on Nova Scotia’s western coast.
Sgt. Lacroix said if it turns out the lobsters were deliberately killed, sabotage from a rival business would be considered a strong motive.
"We believe there was a chemical that was introduced into the water," he said. "But we don’t know if that killed the lobsters. There could be chemicals in the lobsters, and it could be the lobsters were dead before the chemical was put in the water."
No arrests have been made.
A Yarmouth lobsterman said the financial loss could be huge, since fishermen are getting $10 a pound. The price fishermen were paid reached an all-time high of $15 per pound retail for a few days back in mid-April.
According to The Canadian Press, it appears holes were drilled into the building that contains the holding tank and some unknown toxin was introduced into the lobsters’ water. Sgt. Lacroix said the water, which gets pumped from St. Marys Bay, will be analyzed.
Staffers with Environment Canada are assisting police.
Lobster pound owner Paulin Robichaud said he saw a liquid had been spilled on the ground and several holes put in his building.
"Really, I was in shock — total shock," he told CP. "I didn’t think I had an enemy in the world. But I think I’m starting to think differently about that."
Mr. Robichaud said he’s a small player in the lobster business. CP said the loss of product is in the $280,000 range.
"I don’t know if it’s a turf war or what," Mr. Robichaud told the news service.
Police have collected evidence from the scene.
"We seized a substance outside the building that we believe was a chemical that was . . . in the water and we’re going to get that analyzed and look at all the evidence," Sgt. Lacroix said.
"It’s a very competitive business in this area," he added. "It’s volatile. The price of lobsters goes up and down all the time. There’s a lot of money involved and some fishermen . . . have big loans on their boats."
The dead lobsters were trucked to a local compost site, CP reported, and the 160,000 litres of contaminated water has been sealed at the pound.
Police said autopsy results could take several weeks. Sgt. Lacroix said d the case "is pretty unusual" and not one to be solved soon.
"I’ve been around here 20 years and I’ve never seen (anything like) that," he said of the thousands of unexplained lobster deaths. "I mean, I’ve seen a lot of stuff in the fishery, in the lobster business, but not to that extent."
Autopsies ordered to see if shellfish poisoned
By MICHAEL LIGHTSTONE Staff Reporter | 12:37 PM
It could be industrial sabotage, a dirty deed done with plenty of potent poison.
Perhaps it’s a vile vendetta among feuding fishermen.
Then again, maybe — just maybe — the premature death of 40,000 live lobsters in a Digby County holding tank was an accident.
Whatever happened to the crustaceans, one thing is certain. Local police say it is the strangest tale they’ve heard in a very long time, and the Meteghan case is the subject of a criminal investigation being helped by other government agencies.
Just what killed the tasty marine critters, before they were to be transported to market and onto lobster lovers’ dinner plates, remains a mystery.
"We have to get the lobsters autopsied," RCMP Sgt. Michel Lacroix, commander of the Meteghan detachment, said Tuesday. "When we have the answer from that, then we’ll be able to go in one direction."
Biologists from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans are doing post-mortems, Sgt. Lacroix said.
On July 27, police received a report of the alleged poisoning of lobsters at Acadian Group 2001 on Meteghan Wharf Road. The business is situated by St. Marys Bay on Nova Scotia’s western coast.
Sgt. Lacroix said if it turns out the lobsters were deliberately killed, sabotage from a rival business would be considered a strong motive.
"We believe there was a chemical that was introduced into the water," he said. "But we don’t know if that killed the lobsters. There could be chemicals in the lobsters, and it could be the lobsters were dead before the chemical was put in the water."
No arrests have been made.
A Yarmouth lobsterman said the financial loss could be huge, since fishermen are getting $10 a pound. The price fishermen were paid reached an all-time high of $15 per pound retail for a few days back in mid-April.
According to The Canadian Press, it appears holes were drilled into the building that contains the holding tank and some unknown toxin was introduced into the lobsters’ water. Sgt. Lacroix said the water, which gets pumped from St. Marys Bay, will be analyzed.
Staffers with Environment Canada are assisting police.
Lobster pound owner Paulin Robichaud said he saw a liquid had been spilled on the ground and several holes put in his building.
"Really, I was in shock — total shock," he told CP. "I didn’t think I had an enemy in the world. But I think I’m starting to think differently about that."
Mr. Robichaud said he’s a small player in the lobster business. CP said the loss of product is in the $280,000 range.
"I don’t know if it’s a turf war or what," Mr. Robichaud told the news service.
Police have collected evidence from the scene.
"We seized a substance outside the building that we believe was a chemical that was . . . in the water and we’re going to get that analyzed and look at all the evidence," Sgt. Lacroix said.
"It’s a very competitive business in this area," he added. "It’s volatile. The price of lobsters goes up and down all the time. There’s a lot of money involved and some fishermen . . . have big loans on their boats."
The dead lobsters were trucked to a local compost site, CP reported, and the 160,000 litres of contaminated water has been sealed at the pound.
Police said autopsy results could take several weeks. Sgt. Lacroix said d the case "is pretty unusual" and not one to be solved soon.
"I’ve been around here 20 years and I’ve never seen (anything like) that," he said of the thousands of unexplained lobster deaths. "I mean, I’ve seen a lot of stuff in the fishery, in the lobster business, but not to that extent."