Department of Commerce
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NOAA Fisheries Service
- Office for Law Enforcement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 15, 2006

NOAA ISSUES $1.3 MILLION IN CIVIL PENALTIES AGAINST SCALLOP BOATS AND SEAFOOD DEALER

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office for General Counsel for Enforcement and Litigation has issued a series of Notice of Violation Assessments (NOVA) and Notice of Permit Sanctions (NOPS) to the owners and operators of three seafood vessels and a seafood dealer totaling $1,395,000 in civil penalties and 18 years of permit sanctions.

The owners/operators of the vessels are alleged to have exceeded a 400 pound scallop possession limit on numerous occasions; maintaining and submitting false vessel reports; failing to submit required vessel or dealer reports; and selling or purchasing illegally landed scallops.

The civil penalties and permit sanctions, detailed below, are the result of an extensive investigation by NOAA Fisheries Service’s Office for Law Enforcement (OLE):

• The owner, Andrew J. Willey Jr. of Hallwood, Va., and operator, William F. Williams of Virginia Beach, Va., of the fishing vessel (FV) Gold Nugget II, were issued a $500,000 civil penalty and 5-year vessel and operator permit sanctions, respectively, for the alleged landing and selling of scallops over the 400 pound possession limit on more than 20 occasions; submitting or maintaining false vessel trip reports claiming to have landed only 400 pounds of scallops on trips when the vessel exceeded that amount; and one count against Willey for allegedly making a false oral and written statement to a NOAA Fisheries Service Office for Law Enforcement special agent concerning the landings.
  
  All of the landings for this vessel are alleged to have occurred in Chincoteague, Va., with a portion of the catch being sold in Chincoteague, and the majority being transported out of Chincoteague and sold to Southern Connection Seafood in Crisfield, Md. It is alleged that sales of an ostensibly legal amount of 400 pounds of scallops per trip were made to one dealer in Chincoteague. The additional amount exceeding the 400 pound limit allegedly was sold to Southern Connection Seafood, Inc. The FV Gold Nuggett II’s alleged illegal catch resulted in approximate net proceeds for the timeframe exceeding $140,000.
  
• Southern Connection Seafood, Inc. and James P. Reese of Crisfield, Md., were issued a $445,000 civil penalty and a 30-day dealer permit sanction for allegedly purchasing or possessing illegally landed scallops; failing to submit dealer reports; and making a false oral statement to an OLE special agent concerning the purchases of the illegally retained scallops.
  
  The NOVA and NOPS allege that Reese and Southern Connection Seafood purchased large amounts of illegally retained Atlantic sea scallops on approximately 34 separate occasions during 2004. According to the NOVA and NOPS charges, Reese initially claimed that he had not made Atlantic sea scallop purchases directly from several fishing vessels during the year. It is further alleged that Southern Connection Seafood and Reese failed to submit dealer reports purchasing large amounts of Atlantic sea scallops from three fishing vessels on approximately 51 separate occasions.
  
• Keller’s Pride Inc. owner John T. Keller and operator Dwight E. O’Neal, both of Mappsville, Va., were issued a $320,000 civil penalty and 2 -year permit sanctions on their vessel and operator permits for allegedly exceeding a scallop possession limit; selling illegally retained scallops; submitting and maintaining false vessel trip reports claming to have landed only 400 pounds of scallops on trips where the vessel exceeded that amount; and at times failing to complete and submit a vessel trip report.
  
  The fishing vessel Keller’s Pride owner, Keller; and the vessel’s operator, O’Neal, allegedly landed Atlantic sea scallops over the allowable limit on more than 15 occasions in 2004, with approximate net proceeds from the catches at close to $110,000. These landings occurred between May and August 2004, and were all landed in Chincoteague, Va.
  
• A second vessel owned by Keller and operated by O’Neal, the FV Night Stalker, was also issued a $130,000 civil penalty and a 1-year permit sanction on the vessel and operator permits. It is alleged that this vessel landed and sold illegal scallops in excess of the 400 pound trip limit and that the vessel owner or operator submitted false trip reports claiming that only 400 pounds were landed and sold. Mr. Keller is also alleged to have made false oral statements to an OLE special agent claiming that the vessel fished when it was not fishing and that it landed no more than 400 pounds of scallops on each trip.

A General Category Atlantic sea scallop permit allows permitted vessels to land and sell no more than 400 pounds of Atlantic sea scallop meat per day, per trip.

These purchases are alleged to have occurred at the Southern Connection Seafood plant in Crisfield, Md. between March and August of 2004.

“This type of scheme creates an unfair playing field for those fishermen who conduct business legally and stay within the catch limits set by regulation,” said Special agent Steven Niemi, NOAA Fisheries Service Office for Law Enforcement – Northeast Division.

If imposed, the permit sanctions would prohibit the operator from occupying any federally permitted fishing vessel in any capacity while the vessel is at sea or engaged in off-loading. Further, the vessel would be prohibited from fishing in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) for any federally regulated species.

The parties have 30-days by which they must request a hearing to contest the charges before an Administrative Law Judge or seek to resolve the matter by agreement with NOAA.

To report illegal fishing activities contact the NOAA Fisheries Service’s Enforcement Hot Line at 800-853-1964.

NOAA Fisheries Service is dedicated to protecting and preserving our nation’s living marine resources and their habitats through scientific research, management and enforcement. NOAA Fisheries Service provides effective stewardship of these resources for the benefit of the nation, supporting coastal communities that depend upon them, and helping to provide safe and healthy seafood to consumers and recreational opportunities for the American public.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of our nation’s coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners and nearly 60 countries to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes.

On the Web:
NOAA Fisheries Service: www.nmfs.noaa.gov
NOAA: www.noaa.gov