Sunday, January 10, 2010

Big trawl fine among NOAA enforcement cases

At the North Pacific Fishery Management Council's December meeting, federal authorities presented a six-page report listing enforcement cases referred during the year ended Sept. 30, 2009.

Some of the cases on the list remain unresolved as the accused contest the violations.

Others, however, have been settled.

A notable example is an illegal fishing case involving the 296-foot factory trawler Katie Ann, part of the American Seafoods fleet.

Documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request show that on March 17 of last year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration assessed a civil penalty of $115,219 against the captain of the Katie Ann, Jarl M. Hogseth, and the boat's owner.

Hogseth and the Katie Ann, in March 2007, illegally trawled for Pacific cod in a western Aleutians area reserved for Atka mackerel fishing, the documents say.

To settle the case, Hogseth on April 29 of last year signed an agreement to pay $105,219, with the remaining $10,000 suspended.

1 comment:

  1. Everyone should read the report, mostly draggers and proccessors.

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