Sealer Mark Small has said that the federal government was not enforcing its own rules, but the judge in the case ruled that was irrelevant. (CBC)

In what is considered to be one of the longest legal cases in Canada, a Newfoundland and Labrador judge has found 10 of 11 sealers guilty of selling blueback seal pelts nearly 13 years ago.

The sealers were charged in November 1996 for selling bluebacks, also known as hopper hoods, to a seal processing plant near Dildo, after an investigation by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

Under a law that came into effect in February 1993, it is illegal to sell bluebacks, or young hooded seals.

At trial, one of the accused sealers testified he was aware of the regulation.

But Mark Small also told provincial court in Corner Brook that he believed the law wasn't being enforced after discussions with officials from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

"I think everybody was fully aware that DFO had turned a blind eye to the activities that were taking place in 1996," said Small, a vocal advocate of the sealing industry, earlier this month.

But in a written decision dated last week, Judge Wayne Gorman said Small knew his actions were illegal regardless of whether the law was being enforced.

"The failure of an investigative body to enforce a particular law during a particular time period does not constitute a lawful excuse or justification for anyone who has breached that law," Gorman wrote in a 39-page decision dated last Tuesday.

"Thus, even if Mr. Small's mistaken belief that the regulation was not going to be enforced had been accurate, this would not have rendered his sale of blueback seal pelts to Carino lawful."

Gorman noted that the other accused did not argue a similar defence but convicted them based on documents submitted to the seal processing plant and entered as evidence at trial.

The purchase sheets listed the names of the men charged in the case, except for Derrick Pinksen. A separate purchase sheet also entered as evidence identified a Derrick Pinksen as the seller of bluebacks to the plant.

"These documents are the sole evidence to connect this accused to the sale of blueback seal pelts," Gorman wrote.

"Based upon the discrepancies between the name on the information charging the offence and the name on the documents, I am left with a reasonable doubt as to whether or not they relate to the same individual. As a result, the charge laid against Mr. Pinksen is hereby dismissed."

At the time of the 1996 DFO probe, 101 fishermen were charged in what amounted to a public-relations setback for the industry.

After appeals, convictions and a Supreme Court of Canada ruling in 2002, 11 sealers continued to fight against charges that their lawyer argued were politically motivated.

Lawyers for the Crown and defence could not be reached for comment.