Section 71(2) of the Fisheries Act provides that “. . . a court may order any . . . thing seized under this Act to be returned to the person from whom it was seized if security is given to Her Majesty in a form and amount satisfactory to the Minister.” In this case, the owner of two seized prawn …
These summaries of recent Fisheries law cases are prepared by Brad Caldwell of Caldwell & Co., 404-815 Hornby Street, Vancouver, B.C., V6Z 2E6. Telephone (604) 689-8894, E-mail: brad@marine-law.ca CV: Link.
Readers are urged to consult CanLii for updates to the cases digested on this site.
Calwell Fishing Ltd. v. Canada, 2016 FC 1140
This case was brought by a group of fish packer owners whose businesses declined to the point where they were no longer economically viable. They sought a declaration based upon the common law doctrine of "taking". They argued that the state cannot take property without compensation except where such taking is supported by clear unambiguous statutory language. They submitted that …
Full SummaryHer Majesty the Queen v. . 100193 P.E.I. Inc. et al., 2016 FCA 280
This was an appeal and cross appeal from a decision of the Federal Court (2015 FC 932) allowing in part the Appellant/Defendant’s motion for summary judgement to dismiss the Respondent/Plaintiffs’ claims. In their action, the Plaintiffs’ claim included the following: 1) Expropriation without compensation; 2) Breach of contract; 3) Unjust enrichment; and 4) Misfeasance of Public office. The motions Court …
Full SummaryMinister of Fisheries and Oceans v. Ahousaht First Nation et al., 2014 FCA 211
This case involved the appeal of a decision of the Federal Court issued on 28 February 2014 restraining the Minister of Fisheries from opening a commercial herring roe fishery(digested on this website). Since the commercial herring fishery was completed before the Crown requested an expedited appeal in June of 2014, the court ruled that there were no factors that would …
Full SummaryMarion et al. v. Perley et al., 2015 NBQB 147
This case involved an alleged agreement whereby the plaintiff paid a First Nation for the exclusive right to manage and operate its commercial fisheries for the 2013, 2014 and 2015 fisheries. The agreement allegedly gave the plaintiff full control over the commercial fishery operations, the right to lease licences at will from the First Nation and be the designate as …
Full SummaryD'Eon Fisheries Ltd. (Re) v., 2016 NSCA 30
This case involved a borrower that granted a number of Personal Property Security Act ("PPSA") interests under the Nova Scotia PPSA Act over its enterprise allocation of silver hake. Two of the PPSA security holders had registered their security interests as follows: "all of the debtor’s rights, title and interest of every kind which the debtor has in, to or …
Full SummaryBurnell v. Canada (Minister of Fisheries and Oceans), 2014 BCSC 2014
This case involved a class action by a group of halibut fishers against the Minister of Fisheries alleging that the halibut management scheme that held back 10 per cent of the halibut quota and assigned it to the Pacific Halibut Management Society was illegal and that it cost the fishers more to access the quota than it had under the …
Full SummaryAhousaht Indian Band v. Canada (Minister of Fisheries and Oceans), 2014 FC 197
In this case the applicants were a group of five First Nations located on the West Coast of Vancouver Island who had recently had their right to to fish and sell fish affirmed by the Supreme Court of B.C. with the issue of justification and infringement to be later determined. When affirming this right, the court had given the parties …
Full Summary