NOAA Fisheries
Office for Law Enforcement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 1, 2004

KODIAK PROCESSOR PAYS PENALTY FOR ILLEGAL FISH PURCHASES AND FAILURE TO OBTAIN OBSERVER COVERAGE

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of General Counsel for Enforcement and Litigation settled a $71,000 Notice of Violation and Assessment (NOVA), assessed to the manager and owner of Global Seafoods in Kodiak, Alaska for violations of the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act. NOAA is an agency of the Department of Commerce.

On Oct. 25, 2004, Donna Jones, Oleg Nikitenko and Global Seafoods North America, LLC settled the NOVA with the Federal government for failing to have a required NOAA Fisheries-certified groundfish observer on site during a number of days during the first quarter of 2004, and for purchasing approximately 22,000 pounds of groundfish in violation of Gulf of Alaska Maximum Retainable Amounts (MRAs).

NOAA Fisheries-certified groundfish observers play a vital role in providing fisheries and other marine resources data to NOAA Fisheries. This data is critical to the management of Alaska’s marine resources.

Groundfish retention regulations allow Alaska commercial fishermen to retain up to the MRA of groundfish species caught incidentally to targeted fish. This ‘bycatch allowance’ provides greater utilization of Alaska’s fisheries resources. Groundfish processors must report to the OLE all deliveries that exceed bycatch MRAs.

"Protecting observers, insuring the integrity of the data collection process and enforcing observer coverage requirements are high priorities of the Alaska Enforcement Division of NOAA Fisheries,” said Special Agent Nathan Lagerwey, NOAA Fisheries Office for Law Enforcement – Alaska Division.

NOAA Fisheries is dedicated to protecting and preserving our nation’s living marine resources through scientific research, management, law enforcement, and the conservation of marine mammals and other protected marine species and their habitat.

The Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the predication and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of our nation’s coastal and marine resources.