Department of Commerce
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NOAA Fisheries Service
- Office for Law Enforcement
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 18, 2006
CONTACT: |
|
|
Mark Oswell
(301) 427-2300
Susan Auer
(907) 586-7078 |
ALASKA FISHERMAN CHARGED WITH
$254,500 PENALTY FOR FISHERIES VIOLATIONS
NOAA Fisheries Service has assessed a $254,500 civil penalty
and permit sanctions against the owner, manager and three captains
of the FV Alaska Juris , a catcher/processor fishing
boat operating in Alaskan waters.
NOAA Fisheries Service is charging
that from October 2001 through March 2004, Alaska Juris Inc.
and the Fishing Company of Alaska, through its agents, committed
numerous violations, including: tampering with or destroying
observer's samples and equipment; failing to provide observers
a safe work area; failing to notify observers prior to bringing
fish aboard to allow sampling of the catch; failing to provide
reasonable assistance to observers; and interfering with or
biasing sampling procedure employed by observers.
The vessel owner, Alaska Juris Inc., and the vessel
manager, the Fishing Company of Alaska , were assessed a $254,500
civil penalty for violations of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act and the Marine Mammal Protection
Act. Three of the vessel's captains - Christian Thome Jr., Brian
Madruga and Leon Duval - have each been assessed a portion of
the $254,500 civil penalty.
The Notice of Violation and Assessment was issued
Oct. 19 by NOAA's Office of General Counsel for Enforcement
and Litigation. Officials also assessed a 30-day permit sanction
against the vessel, to begin March 15. The charges are a result
of a multiple-year investigation conducted by special agents
in the Alaska division of NOAA Fisheries Service's Office for
Law Enforcement.
"The investigation
focused on identifying patterns of significant interference
and efforts by vessel captains and crew to hinder or bias the
observer's samples and procedures," said NOAA Special Agent Michael
Killary.
The investigation also documented other
types of alleged violations, including inaccurate information
on required reports; failure to discard prohibited species;
failure to report incidental mortality or injury to marine mammals;
and conducting fishing contrary to seasonal closures. The vessel
operators, Alaska Juris Inc. and The Fishing Company of Alaska
have 30 days to request a hearing in this action.
Management programs allocate fish resources among
areas, seasons, gear and vessel types, cooperatives and even
individual fishers. Observer data collected from the fleet
are integral to the sound management of fisheries resources.
The data are used by NOAA, the North Pacific Fisheries Management
Council, Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the International
Pacific Halibut Commission.
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 60 countries and
the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network
that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and
protects.
To report illegal fishing
activities contact the NOAA Fisheries Service's Enforcement
Hot Line at 800-853-1964.
- 30 -
On the Web:
NOAA Fisheries Service: www.nmfs.noaa.gov
NOAA: www.noaa.gov
|