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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 17, 2007

NOAA Assesses Maine Herring Vessel $510,000 Penalty for Federal Fishing Violations

NOAA has assessed a $510,000 civil penalty and two-year permit suspension to the operator of the fishing vessel Western Sea for multiple violations of the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act.

The 51-count Notice of Violation and Assessment alleges that Daniel S. Fill, the vessel’s operator, failed to report roughly fifteen million pounds of herring harvested in the Gulf of Maine between this May and August. NOAA requires owners or operators of herring vessels issued a federal fishing permit to report all species caught during each trip, regardless of whether they are retained or discarded. The Western Sea is home ported in Rockland, Maine.

“Herring in the Gulf of Maine is managed by a quota system,” said Special Agent James MacDonald, with NOAA Fisheries Service’s Office of Law Enforcement northeast division. “Non-reporting on this scale significantly undermines NOAA’s ability to effectively manage and conserve this fishery.”

To report illegal fishing activities, contact the NOAA Fisheries Service’s enforcement hot line at 800-853-1964.

In 2007 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, celebrates 200 years of science and service to the nation. From the establishment of the Survey of the Coast in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson to the formation of the Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries in the 1870s, much of America's scientific heritage is rooted in NOAA. NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation, and by 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, more than 70 countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.

On the Web:

NOAA Fisheries Service: http://www.noaa.gov

NOAA: http://www.noaa.gov

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Note to Reporters:

• Monetary civil penalties for fisheries violations are assessed when NOAA’s Office of General Counsel issues a Notice of Violation and Assessment (NOVA) to the alleged violator; Permit sanctions are assessed when NOAA’s Office of General Counsel issues a Notice of Permit Sanction (NOPS) to the alleged violator.
• Alleged violators are given thirty days from receipt of a NOVA or a NOPS to request a hearing before an administrative law judge.
• NOAA enforcement press releases are distributed for informational purposes only and do not have the force and effect of law.