NETTED OVER 200,000 POUNDS OF FISH IN EXCESS OF APPLICABLE QUOTAS
In early October, a long Island fisherman was convicted by a federal jury of “one count of federal criminal conspiracy, two counts of mail fraud and two counts of obstruction of justice.”
Apparently, one some 200 trips, CW of Montauk, New York, targeted fluke, and black sea bass, harvested those fish in excess of applicable quotas, and then falsified records of those trips.
It is said that the scam “netted an overharvest of approximately 200,000 pounds of fluke and black sea bass, valued conservatively at least at $750,000 (wholesale).”
In a written statement, Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, noted that “Fluke and black sea bass play a vital part in our marine ecosystem and quotas are designed to prevent overfishing and stabilize populations for the public good …. We will continue to seek justice against those who flout laws that protect fisheries and the fishing industry.”
No letting this guy off the hook here?
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