RFID lobsters snare poachers

IN WHAT CAN only be described as very fishy business, Canadian fishery officers have caught a man accused of trying to sell lobsters taken from illegal unmarked traps.

John Peter Atwood, a Shelburne County fisherman, was snagged and slammed with a $20,000 fine, after an undercover (underwater?) sting operation found he’d been poaching secretly tagged lobsters from unmarked traps. Caught hook, line and sinker so to speak.

Atwood’s Lawyer entered his client’s guilty plea in his absence (he was at home crying crocodile tears at the time). As well as being fined for laying unmarked traps, Atwood was also fined an extra $2000 for being in the possession of several female lobsters, apparently a protected species. To add salt (and lemon) to the wound, Atwood’s entire catch of the day (worth an estimated $21,785.50) was confiscated by the drooling federal fishery officers.

Although it wasn’t exactly spelled out, its thought that the lobsters had been tagged by means of a tiny microchip implant in their bellies. An article dating back to 2004 from Fishery Bulletin outlines how these implants contain binary encoded numbers, which result in beeping or flashing lights if the tagged lobster is passed under a scanner.

Conservation and protection supervisor at the Barrington office of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Mark Comley, told Nova Scotia news that he couldn’t reveal the secretive methods used but cryptically added, "We do have technical equipment, electronic equipment."

We always thought lobsters went well with chips. µ

L’Inq
Nova Scotia News