Department of Justice
Assistant U.S. Attorney's Office
- District of Alaska

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 17, 2003

TWO COMMERCIAL FISHERMEN INDICTED FOR FALSELY REPORTING FISHERIES CATCH INFORMATION

Anchorage, Alaska - Two Washington state commercial fishermen, Paul Ison, 50, and Dan Skauge, 54, were indicted by a federal grand jury yesterday for falsely reporting to Federal officials the amount of halibut caught on the 185-foot factory trawler Unimak. The trawler conducts commercial fishing operations off the Alaska Coast and, in accord with an international treaty, is limited in the number of Pacific halibut that can be inadvertently caught while taking groundfish such as sole.

A treaty between the U.S. and Canada calls for limits on the number of halibut which can be taken incidentally from Alaskan groundfish fisheries, in order to protect the future viability of the halibut stock. To enforce the terms of the treaty, federal law and regulations call for an observer from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to be present at all times on a trawler boat the size of the Unimak, while it operates in the groundfish fishery. The observer scientifically samples the catch and reports the number and types of fish caught to the NOAA Fisheries. This information helps NOAA Fisheries to determine when the fishery must be closed in order to protect the species' future.

According to the indictment, Ison and Skauge the captain and co-captain, directed the crew of the Unimak to hide the true number of halibut caught from the NOAA observer on board. This was accomplished by pre-sorting the halibut from the vessel's catch before the observer could conduct the scientific sampling. The indictment alleges that during the 1999 and 2000 groundfish fisheries seasons, it was common practice for the vessel's crew to physically and mechanically presort halibut. Also, the crew sometimes failed to notify the observer when a catch designated for sampling was brought onboard. The indictment also alleges that the crew would frustrate observer efforts by intentionally mixing catches or causing sampled catches to be mixed with unsampled catches. As a result, both the observer and the vessel under-reported to NOAA Fisheries the amount of Pacific halibut caught incidentally during the Umiak groundfish fishing activities.

The indictment charges that the methods undertaken by Ison and Skauge significantly impacted the NOAA Fisheries ability to manage the fishery due to the false reporting of the amount of halibut caught.

Special Agents of the NOAA Fisheries Office for Law Enforcement in Anchorage conducted the investigation. The case is being prosecuted by the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Alaska and the United States Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division. The maximum penalties for a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(1), False Statements to the United States, are a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a $250,000.00 fine for each felony count.

Charges are merely accusations; and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty at trial or a plea of guilty is accepted by the Court.