Plea Agreement Reached in Case of Illegal Commercial Fishing Activities
The Department of Justice announces that Cannon Seafood Inc., owner and president Robert Moore Sr. and employee Robert Moore Jr. have pleaded guilty to federal charges of violating the Lacey Act. The Lacey Act prohibits creating false documentation for commercially-caught fish, as well as transporting, selling or buying fish which are illegally harvested.
The guilty pleas were entered in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia regarding illegal purchases and sales of striped bass caught in the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River. Federal charges were entered against the party as a result of covert investigations extending from 2003 to 2007.
Cannon Seafood will pay $80,000 in fines and $28,000 in restitution to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) as part of the plea agreement. Moore Sr. will pay $40,000 in fines and $15,000 in restitution, and Moore Jr. has agreed to pay $30,000 in fines and $10,000 in restitution.
Under the agreement, the parties have agreed that from April 2003 to June 30, 2007 Moore Sr. bought striped bass from Thomas Hallock, Jerry Decatur Sr. and Jerry Decatur Jr. under federal violating conditions. False sales receipts were generated to reflect that a different species was involved in the transactions; weights and prices of the fish were also altered in order to conceal prohibited purchases. During the stated time period, Cannon produced 168 false receipts for over 62,000 pounds of striped bass caught in Maryland, and paid Hallock more than $139,000.
Striped bass is a regulated species, and various conditions must be met when buying or selling the protected fish. Prohibitions exist during certain fishing seasons, as well as size limits to striped bass that are caught in the Chesapeake Bay area. Virginia and Maryland also require that plastic tags must be attached to the striped bass when they are commercially harvested.
The three defendants also arranged to purchase more than 30,000 pounds of striped bass caught in Virginia from the Decaturs which did not have the required plastic tags affixed. Most of these fish were also caught during the spring spawning season, which is prohibited in order to protect the long-term survival of the species.
An interstate task force formed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Maryland Natural Resources Police and the Virginia Marine Police Special Investigative Unit was formed in 2003 to investigate the defendants’ activities. Undercover purchases of striped bass and observation of the commercial fishing activities in the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River areas resulted in the charges against the defendants.
Others may still be charged in relation to the case, and investigations are continuing. Five other commercial fishermen have been charged with similar violations of the Lacey Act in a related case. Joseph Peter Nelson and Joseph Peter Nelson Jr., two other commercial fishermen, have also been indicted in the District of Maryland for charges of conspiring to violate the Lacey Act, totaling six felony federal charges. The Nelsons are facing forfeiture of their fishing vessels and vehicles used in the alleged illegal commercial activity.