Crab boat captain to stand trial for role in riot

A New Brunswick man accused in the Shippagan, N.B., crab riots will stand trial on charges including obstructing police and participating in a riot.

A Bathurst judge decided Thursday there is enough evidence to send Valois Goupil to trial, but not to move forward on previous charges of criminal arson.

Goupil,a crab boat captain, is accused of playing a role in riots in 2003. Boats, a fish processing plant and more than 100 traps were set on fire during the nine-hour rampage by crab fishermen.

The rioters were protesting the federal government's decision to reduce the region's quotas for snow crab, which is the most lucrative catch on the East Coast.

The protesters were furious that Ottawa had ordered traditional crabbers to share 15 per cent of the remainder of the catch with inshore lobster fishermen. The federal decision made permanent a 1999 decision that granted lobster fishermen a temporary share of the catch as a way to reduce pressure on the lobster stock.

Shortly after the riot, RCMP said thatpolice did not expect violence and did not have enough officers available to stop the destruction.

Goupilis one of 28 people facing criminal charges in connection with the riots. His next court date has not been set.