Three vessels charged with violating Right Whale ship strike reduction rule pay penalties
Speed restrictions in seasonal management areas reduce risk of death to endangered whales
Three large commercial vessels who were assessed civil penalties this fall for violating seasonal speed limits designed to protect one of the most endangered whale species in the world have paid their penalties in full. Cases against six other vessels for the same offense are still open.
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KEYS LOBSTER CASE RESULTS IN TWO ADDITIONAL GUILTY PLEAS AND SENTENCING
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Otha Easley, Acting Special Agent in Charge, NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement, Southeast Division, announced that Rush C. Maltz, 36, of the Saddle Bunch Keys, and Titus A. Werner, 36, of Little Torch Key, both pled guilty yesterday in federal District Court in Key West on charges of having conspired to receive, purchase, sell, and transport quantities of lobster for distribution in interstate commerce, without complying with Florida law regarding commercial harvest requirements, licensing provisions, and bag and trip limits essential to the lawful harvest, possession, and sale of saltwater products, in violation of the Lacey Act, all in violation of the federal conspiracy statute, Title 18, United States Code, Section 371. In a subsequent proceeding also held yesterday, their co-defendant Scott A. Greager, 48, of Stock Island, Florida, was sentenced on the same charge.
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Seafood dealers and fishermen plead guilty
Michael J. Moore, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, announces that felony guilty pleas have been entered by the following defendants in a federal environmental crimes prosecution: Junior Wayne Harper, age 59, of Thomasville, GA, Byron James Puckett, age 42, of Cairo, GA, Charles Stacy Logue, age 40, of East Point, FL, and Ronald Irvin Burdette, age 47, of Moultrie, GA
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OREGON MAN INDICTED BY FEDERAL GRAND JURY FOR FISHING CRIMES
Anchorage, Alaska – Acting United States Attorney Kevin Feldis announced today that an Oregon man was indicted by a federal grand jury in Anchorage on six counts of fishing in one regulatory area and then falsely reporting the fish were caught in a different regulatory area.
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Commercial fishing operation charged with conspiracy to falsify records in connection with overharvesting of sea scallops off New Jersey coast
NEWARK, N.J. - A Maine seafood company, one of its owners, and four fisherman were
charged today in a conspiracy to falsify records and obstruct justice in connection with
overharvesting Atlantic Sea Scallops off the coast of New Jersey, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman
announced.
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Legislation drafted by NOAA to protect U.S. fishermen from unfair competition
Bill would keep vessels with illegally caught seafood out of U.S. ports
A bill introduced in Congress yesterday would prevent pirate fishing vessels from entering U.S. ports to offload their illegally caught seafood. This pirate fishing is often called illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
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Genetic markers developed at VIMS help feds enforce seafood regulations
New discoveries in "marine forensics" by researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science will allow federal seafood agents to genetically test blue marlin to quickly and accurately determine their ocean of origin.
The test is needed to ensure that the blue marlin sold in U.S. seafood markets were not taken from the Atlantic Ocean. The import and sale of blue marlin from the Pacific or Indian oceans is legal in the U.S., while the marketing of Atlantic blues can bring civil or criminal penalties, including fines, seizure of a catch, or the loss of a fishing permit. Regulation of Atlantic blue marlin reflects overfishing and a troubling drop in population within Atlantic waters.
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Sport fisherman pays fine for illegally taking, importing fish from Mexican waters
California recreational fisherman settles federal case for violation of the Lacey Act
A Southern California-based recreational fisherman who imported fish that he and a partner caught illegally in Mexican waters has paid a $1,000 fine assessed by NOAA’s Office of General Counsel’s Enforcement Section.
A $1,000 Notice of Violation and Assessment was issued to Shui Yan Cheng of La Puente, Calif., the owner and operator of the fishing vessel Adele, for violating the Lacey Act by importing 179 rockfish and sand dabs into the United States. Fishing regulations in Mexico limited Cheng and his fishing partner to just 10 fish each for their one-day fishing trip to fishing grounds near Coronado Island on July 3, 2010.
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A Virginia Woman Pleads Guilty in Federal Investigation of Illegal Striped Bass Charter Boat Fishing
NEWPORT NEWS, VA. – An Orange County woman today pleaded guilty in federal court to knowingly providing false information to federal and state investigators probing whether charter boats have been fishing illegally for striped bass in federal waters off Virginia’s coast.
As part of a plea agreement before a federal magistrate in Alexandria, Va., Julie Smoot Jennings, 49, of Locust Grove, agreed to pay a $1,000 fine, perform 100 hours of community service and be placed on supervised probation for a year.
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TAMPA COMPANY AND ITS PRESIDENT SENTENCED FOR MISLABELING OF SHRIMP
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Otha Easley, Acting Special Agent in Charge, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Office of Law Enforcement (OLE), announced yesterday’s sentencing of defendants Adrian Vela, 76, and Sea Food Center, LLC., both of Tampa, Florida, on charges that they conspired to mislabel shrimp. The two had previously pled guilty to a nine-count Criminal Information, which charged them with conspiring to violate the Lacey Act and the Food Drug and Cosmetics Act.
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NOAA seeks input on enforcement priorities
Public comment period on draft list of priorities open through January 9
Today, NOAA released a draft of its enforcement priorities and invited the public to submit comments through January 9. These enforcement priorities are the latest step NOAA is taking to improve its enforcement program, and will help the agency emphasize compliance through better communication with fishermen. Other improvements in the last two years include new leadership, higher-level review of charging decisions, and a new penalty policy to ensure more consistent penalties nationwide.
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NOAA assesses civil penalties to shrimpers for alleged Turtle Excluder Device violations
Devices, required by Endangered Species Act, help keep turtles from drowning in shrimp nets
The owners and operators of 18 shrimp trawlers were assessed civil penalties over the past two weeks for allegedly altering or not having turtle excluder devices on their vessels.
The Notices of Violation and Assessment (NOVAs), issued by NOAA’s Office of General Counsel for Enforcement and Litigation, are the latest result of NOAA’s enhanced enforcement of turtle excluder devices, due to a spike in sea turtle deaths. The devices, known as TEDs, keep endangered and threatened sea turtles from being caught and drowned in shrimping nets and are required under the Endangered Species Act.
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