Thursday, August 10, 2006 | 4:33 PM AT

A Newfoundland sealing captain wants to know why it took 16 months for RCMP in P.E.I. to lay an assault charge against him in connection with the 2005 seal hunt.

Police allege Dwight Lyman Spence, 54, of Port Au Choix, N.L., swung his hakapik at a man during the hunt. The alleged victim said the weapon hit him in the arm and damaged his camera. Police say his injuries were not serious.

"Here we are going on to a year and a half and I don't know what happened," Spence told CBC News Thursday. "Never heard a sound about it until within the last month or so."

Spence said he intends to plead not guilty.

"We were on our way back to the boat with seals and I must say — and I'll defend myself in that matter — we had to push our way through them to get back to the boat," he said. "You know I had a million dollar boat tied onto the ice and I wasn't going to allow those fellows to keep me from it."

RCMP Sgt. Dave Thibeau said the charge was a long time coming because of the difficulty of interviewing people who had come from all over the world to observe the hunt.

"These investigations are very complex," Thibeau said.

"During the sealing season we have people who come to the shores of P.E.I. from across P.E.I., across Canada, across the world. So this investigation led us to a number of people across the world. Trying to contact these people does take some time."

Thibeau said RCMP received seven complaints during the 2005 seal hunt, which was close to Island shores and therefore were in the P.E.I. jurisdiction. Most were assaults, but there was one complaint of animal cruelty.

Spence is scheduled to appear in court in Georgetown on Oct. 12.