COUNTY - Record fines handed down here in 2006 for violations in the lucrative tuna fishery will stand after a second appeal in the case was dismissed earlier this month.

 In a 23-page decision released November 13, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal rejected arguments of a Sambro company and seven Halifax County fishermen fined a total of nearly $840,000.

 Ivy Fisheries Limited, its directors and employees landed 135 illegally caught bluefin tuna in three months in late 2000. The catch was sold for almost $1.2 million.

 The company and men were convicted of various offences following a lengthy provincial court trial. Judge Anne Crawford determined their actions were deliberate and intended to catch the maximum number of tuna possible, regardless of the rules.

 Ivy Fisheries was fined more than $650,000. Three brothers who own and operate the company - Clark Andrew Henneberry, Wesley Clark Henneberry and Marcel Steven Henneberry - were fined $17,500, $62,000 and $72,000 respectively. Andrew William Henneberry, who was involved in the illegal selling of the tuna, was fined $11,000.

 A fill-in captain for three trips, Paul Raymond Parnell, was fined $7,500.

 Two employees who made trips while the main players double fished with other boats - Gregory Burton Smith and James Phillip Ryan - were fined $13,000 and $5,000 respectively.

 The decision and sentences were first appealed to the Nova Scotia Supreme Court. However, in March of this year, Justice Margaret Stewart dismissed that appeal, concluding that the penalties were appropriate.

 In his written decision this month, Justice Jamie Saunders made similar findings, saying the judges' earlier rulings were sound and systematically rejecting each ground of appeal.

 He also reinstated Judge Crawford's order suspending the company's fishing licence for a year as of December 14. That suspension was stayed during the first appeal and again pending this latest decision.

advertisement

 Back in 2006, a boat using that licence had sailed two days before the judge passed sentence. She ordered it to immediately cease fishing and return to port.

posted on 11/24/09