PEI

Federal government seeks appeal of P.E.I. fish kill ruling

Lawyers for Fisheries and Oceans Canada want the P.E.I. Court of Appeal to hear arguments over a 2016 fish kill.

P.E.I. Supreme Court had ruled feds breached charter investigating the case

Farm equipment at Skye View Farms. (CBC)

Lawyers for Fisheries and Oceans Canada want the P.E.I. Court of Appeal to hear arguments over a 2016 fish kill.

They filed documents seeking an appeal this week.

Just last month, the P.E.I. Supreme Court upheld the acquittals of farmer Alex Docherty and his son Logan, as well as the business Skye View Farms.

That court agreed with the trial judge's decision that federal investigators breached the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the case.

They had not obtained a warrant before searching the property of Skye View Farms after dead fish were found in the nearby Clyde River.

The fish died after 70 millimetres of rain fell on the area in just a few hours.

The federal Fisheries Act charges alleged the farm let a substance harmful to fish — in this case pesticides — enter the river.

More from CBC P.E.I.