Aquaculture Company Fined $500K
in Lobster Deaths

New Brunswick aquaculture company Kelly Cove, Ltd. has been ordered to pay $500,000 after pleading guilty to two charges in connection with the deaths of hundreds of lobsters from an illegal pesticide about three years ago in the Bay of Fundy.

“We feel that it will definitely send a strong message, not only to the aquaculture sector, but to other marine users, that the illegal use of pesticides is simply not tolerable,” said Robert Robichaud, environmental enforcement.

Environment Canada had charged Kelly Cove Salmon and three company executives with 19 counts each of depositing a substance that’s harmful to fish into fish-bearing water, under the Fisheries Act. Kelly Cove Salmon, a division of Cooke Aquaculture, plead guilty to two of the counts on April 26, 2013. Cooke Aquaculture, the largest independent aquaculture company in North America, was fined $100,000.

Matthew Abbott, Fundy Baykeeper with the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, said he applauds the guilty plea and hopes the case makes the public think twice about what’s going on at fish farms.

“We’re seeing comparably toxic, or even more toxic chemicals approved for use or considered for future use, so I hope this gives pause in our future management of the sea lice problem,” Abbott said. In an agreed statement of facts presented to the court, Kelly Cove Salmon “acquired significant quantities of cypermethrin-based pesticide from a specialized supplier in 2009.” Cypermethrin is an agricultural pesticide that’s illegal for marine use in Canada and toxic to lobsters.