Nova Scotia theft of $28K of lobster troubles fishing community

Recent thefts of roughly 2,700 kilograms of lobster in Nova Scotia are troubling officials in Atlantic Canada's billion-dollar lobster fishing industry.

Hubert Saulnier, a lobster fisherman based in Saulnierville, N.S., said the valuable crustaceans were someone's livelihood and a lot of work and money went into catching them.

"When you start affecting somebody else's livelihood, I mean, a lot of wars are started affecting somebody else's livelihood," said Saulnier, a former president of the Maritime Fishermen's Union Local 9.

"This is the livelihood of a few men and it doesn't belong to the thieves, it belongs to the individuals. It's really too bad."

Multiple thefts

The RCMP say 48 crates of live lobster, more than 2,100kilograms, were stolen from an outdoor pound at a business on CapeSable Island earlier this week.

The theft followed a similar incident last month, when 14 cratesof lobster were stolen from a secure compound on Morris Island nearYarmouth.

Saulnier said at roughly six dollars per pound, the latest theftwould have amounted to roughly $28,000 in lobster.

But Saulnier said it's not just revenue that is lost when someonesteals a catch. Fishermen have expenses, including fuel, bait andpaying the crew.

He said two crew members usually received 15 per cent each of thecatch and would have to be paid regardless of the theft.

Several days worth of lobster

Saulnierestimated the expenses for the 2,100-kilogram catch could havereached roughly $11,000, which would bring the total loss to roughly$39,000.

It would have taken four or five days to catch 2,100 kilograms oflobster, Saulnier estimated.

Saulnier said he's concerned about the incidents and believes thethieves had an elaborate plan, as live lobsters have a limited shelflife.

"It's a lot of work to steal that amount," said Saulnier, whofishes for lobster in the Bay of Fundy.

"When you have a live product in the back of a truck, you can'tjust store them away for three months and then start selling them onthe black market. Whoever did it must have had... a buyer linedup."

The Mounties are asking the public to watch out for people tryingto sell an unusually large number of lobsters.