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ARTICLE · 02 AUGUST 2016

Acquittals In Two Recent Fisheries Act Prosecutions

In the last several months, two cases related to charges against farmers in PEI under the Fisheries Act were dismissed

CanadaEnvironment

We often report on convictions under the Fisheries Act. It is less often that we report on acquittals. In the last several months, two cases related to charges against farmers in PEI under the Fisheries Act were dismissed. The cases turned on whether the farmers, contrary to section 36(3) the Act, permitted the deposit of a deleterious substance in water frequented by fish or in any place under any conditions where the deleterious substance or any other deleterious substance that results from the deposit of the substance may enter any such water.

In both cases, observed fish kills after heavy rain fall resulted in investigations of nearby farms. Pesticide run-off from agricultural fields was alleged to have entered into waters known to have fish. In the case against Brookfield Gardens Inc., over 1155 dead fish were collected. In the other, against Denton Ellis and his corporation, D.S. Ellis Inc., 123 dead fish were recovered.

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