The Crown called just one witness in a case against five animal rights activists it says disrupted the seal hunt off Canada's east coast in 2006.

Two Canadians, two Americans and a British citizen — all with the Humane Society of the United States and its affiliate, Humane Society International — are charged with violating marine mammal regulations.

In circuit court proceedings on the Magdalen Islands, the Crown called only fisheries officer Jean François Sylvestre, who said he witnessed the observers in two inflatable boats for more than 40 minutes while off Cape Breton.

The Crown is arguing that the activists came dangerously close to one group of hunters participating in the hunt in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

But Toronto-based defence lawyer Clayton Ruby said he plans to enter evidence that will contradict the fisheries officer's testimony.

"They show [that] what this one witness says happened, never happened," Ruby said.

"And we can prove it with objective, untampered-with, clear, scientific analysis of videotapes."

The activists allege they were approached by the sealers' boat, causing a deliberate breach of the 10-metre buffer as fisheries officers looked on.

Crown lawyer Denis Lavoie said, however, that the actions of the hunters or law enforcement officials are not in question.

"The issue [for] the judge to decide is if these persons had breached their conditions or not. If there was provocation or not may not be relevant at all to the issue," he said.

On Friday, the Crown formally ended its submissions and moved for an adjournment until May 6, while it examines defense expert witness reports.

Ruby, who plans to call videotape experts to testify on behalf of his clients,  said it could be next summer by the time the court has heard from all his witnesses.

The defendants — Canadians Rebecca Aldworth and Andrew Plumbly, Americans Chad Sisneros and Pierre Grzybowski and British citizen Mark Glover — have all pleaded not guilty.

The HSUS has emerged in recent years as one of the sharpest critics of the Canadian seal hunt. Its videotapes of the hunt are used in its campaigns to encourage international bans of seal pelts and products.