The accused was apprehended lobster fishing at a wharf located within an area closed to fishing for lobster. The trial court acquitted the accused on the grounds that the Crown failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the location where the accused had been fishing.
On appeal, the P.E.I. Supreme Court set aside the acquittal and convicted the accused on the basis of section 610(1) of the Canada Shipping Act which provides as follows:
For the purpose of giving jurisdiction under this Act, every offence shall be deemed to have been committed and every cause of complaint to have arisen either in the place in which the offence actually was committed or arose, or in any place in which the offender or person complained against may be.
Counsel for the Crown: Stephen D.G. Mcknight
Counsel for the Accused: Andrew Walder, Q.C.