live lobsters without a valid licence.

The Bermuda Import and Export Company along with the Mermaid Beach Club were fined $200 each after pleading guilty to the charges.

The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, charged that on May 10, inspectors found 15 live lobsters in a tank at the Jolly Lobster Restaurant.

On May 12, the officials removed the lobsters and the restaurant manager was charged.

Mermaid Beach's defence rested on the fact that they were not the official importers.

But Senior Magistrate the Wor. Will Francis said: "Under the criminal code any person who induces a person to do something illegal is just as guilty as the person that committed the act''.

The magistrate said took into account the fact that the hotel, by going to a wholesaler that was in position to gain a licence for importing live lobsters, was not aware that it was committing a crime.

The lobsters, which are now dead, were worth $200.