Fisheries and Oceans officer Denis Robichaud measures one of the undersized lobsters after the May 2008 seizure. (CBC file)

A Nova Scotia fishing captain has been fined $50,000 and suspended from lobster fishing for the next two years in what fisheries officials said was the largest seizure of undersized lobster in Canadian history.

Daniel Edward Doucette of Wedgeport was sentenced Friday in Yarmouth provincial court. He had pleaded guilty to possessing 5,330 undersized lobsters.

Dan Fleck, a field supervisor with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, called the size of the seizure "massive." He said he believes this is the biggest seizure in Canada and that past seizures have been nowhere near as large.

"The most we've seen is like 800, maybe 1,000 lobsters. That would be tops," he told CBC News on Friday.

Fleck was one of six officers who boarded the fishing vessel Kayla and Dylan in May 2008. Fisheries officials received a tip about possible illegal activity and seized the boat just five days before the commercial lobster season ended.

When he boarded the boat in Wedgeport, Fleck said he saw crates filled with small lobsters.

"It was shocking. It was like a highlight and a low point in my career when I first saw this to realize what we had on board the boat," he said.

"It's a big bust for us but terrible to think that someone would do this to their friends, neighbours and to their resource and everybody in the community."

The body of a lobster must be 82.5 mm or longer if it's going to be sold, Fleck said. The limit exists to ensure lobsters reach an age of sexual maturity and reproduce before they're caught.

Fleck said the 5,330 lobsters — some no bigger than the palm of his hand — were returned to the water soon after the seizure.

"We're talking millions and millions of eggs," he said.

In court Friday, Judge Robert Prince said that no matter what prompted the incident, a message must be sent that the lobster resource must be protected.

"The court appreciates that the offence has led to tragic consequences for the defendant and his family," Prince is quoted as saying in the Yarmouth County Vanguard.

"It is regrettable that he chose to carry out this activity. If the motivation was purely economic, then in my view, it's even more tragic for the defendant and his family."

The importance of the lobster supply to the area "cannot be underestimated," Prince said.

"It is a finite and sometimes fragile resource that requires conservation and protection if it is to survive and continue to sustain so many in our regions," he said.

Fleck said the court-imposed two-year suspension sets a precedent.

"This verdict will help people understand that illegal fishing is not acceptable, and there are, indeed, penalties for those who threaten these lobster stocks and the well-being of these communities where we all live," he said.