$12K settlement reached in factory trawl case

NOAA's Office of General Counsel reports the following case resolution:

• C/P North Star — Owner North Star Vessel LLC and operator Joshua Buchan were charged jointly and severally under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act with exceeding the maximum retainable amount of pollock. A $23,408 NOVA (notice of violation and assessment) was issued, and the case settled for $12,204.

Feds detail several enforcement actions

NOAA's Office of General Counsel reports the following cases charged in May:

• C/P Frontier Mariner — Factory manager Edgar Estuardo De Los Reyes was charged under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act with sexually harassing and harassing a female observer. A $9,500 NOVA (notice of violation and assessment) was issued.

• F/V Cape Horn — Owner Cape Horn Vessel LLC and operator Arthur James McArdle were charged jointly and severally under the Magnuson-Stevens Act with exceeding the maximum retainable amount of pollock on two fishing trips and failing to timely submit one product transfer report. A $6,042 NOVA was issued, and the case settled for $1,638.

• F/V Chellissa — Owner Chellissa Fisheries LLC and operators Robert W. Harrington II and Jerimiah T. Young were charged jointly and severally under the Magnuson-Stevens Act with exceeding the maximum retainable amounts of bycatch in 2023. A $5,500 NOVA was issued.

• F/V Outlook — Owner-operator Nestor Sergei Ivanov and owner Irina Ivanov were charged jointly and severally under the Magnuson-Stevens Act with possessing salmon harvested in Alaska state waters on a vessel commercial fishing for salmon in the Cook Inlet Exclusive Economic Zone. A written warning was issued.

Gulf pollock, cod violations draw $36,441 penalty

NOAA's Office of General Counsel reports the following case charged in April:

• F/V Alaskan Lady — Owner Alaskan Lady LLC and operator Keith M. Williams were charged jointly and severally under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act with directed fishing in pollock and Pacific cod no fishing zones and exceeding the maximum retainable amounts of pollock and Pacific cod in the Gulf of Alaska. A $36,441 NOVA (notice of violation and assessment) was issued.

Factory trawler charged with pollock violation

NOAA's Office of General Counsel reports the following case charged in March:

• C/P North Star — Owner North Star Vessel LLC and operator Joshua Buchan were charged jointly and severally under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act with exceeding the maximum retainable amount of pollock. A $23,408 NOVA (notice of violation and assessment) was issued.

Feds detail several Alaska enforcement cases

NOAA's Office of General Counsel reports the following cases charged in February:

• F/T U.S. Intrepid — Owner U.S. Fishing LLC and operator Erin Blaine Moore were charged jointly and severally under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act with failing to comply with vessel monitoring system requirements and for failing to submit two product transfer reports as required. A $38,000 NOVA (notice of violation and assessment) was issued.

• F/V Alaska Victory — Owner Alaska Victory Inc. and operator David D. Bishop were charged jointly and severally under the Magnuson-Stevens Act with failing to comply with vessel monitoring system requirements. A $36,000 NOVA was issued, and the case settled for $32,400.

• F/V Arica — Owner Arica Vessel LLC and operator John C. Nelson were charged jointly and severally under the Magnuson-Stevens Act with exceeding the maximum retainable amount of pollock on one fishing trip and failing to timely submit one product transfer report. A $20,818 NOVA was issued.

• F/V Lady Lee Dawn — Owner-operator Alvin J. Newman Jr. was charged under the Magnuson-Stevens Act with failing to comply with vessel monitoring system requirements. A $10,000 NOVA was issued.

• F/V Pacific Star — Owner Pacstar Inc. and operator John P. McCarthy were charged jointly and severally under the Magnuson-Stevens Act with exceeding the maximum retainable amount of bycatch on one trip in 2023. A $4,836 NOVA was issued, and the case settled for $4,361.

• F/V Dominator — Owner Trident Seafoods and operator Jamie Potter were charged jointly and severally under the Magnuson-Stevens Act with exceeding the maximum retainable amount of squid and sablefish. A $4,000 NOVA was issued, and the case settled for $3,600.

Feds detail three enforcement cases

NOAA's Office of General Counsel reports these cases charged in December:

• F/V Evie Grace — Owner Evie Grace Fisheries LLC and operator Robert B. Langdon were charged jointly and severally under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act with observer sampling interference, unlawful discard of a Rockfish Program species, and with exceeding maximum retainable amounts of bycatch in 2022 and 2023. A $35,918 NOVA (notice of violation and assessment) was issued, and the case settled for $33,368.

• F/V Gambler — Owner Gambler Tendering LLC and operator Kyle Potter were charged jointly and severally under the Magnuson-Stevens Act with operating a vessel without transmitting from a vessel monitoring system when required, and with catching and retaining Pacific cod from waters adjacent to the Gulf of Alaska without all required designations and/or endorsements, and/or when directed fishing for Pacific cod was not open. A $29,621.38 NOVA was issued.

• F/V Unimak — Owner Unimak Vessel LLC and operator David L. Ostrom were charged jointly and severally under the Magnuson-Stevens Act with exceeding the maximum retainable amount of pollock on one fishing trip and failing to timely submit one product transfer report. A $4,514 NOVA was issued.

Feds detail three enforcement cases

NOAA's Office of General Counsel reports these cases charged in October:

• F/V U.S. Intrepid — Crewman Zedrick Moli (aka Zedrick Allen) was charged under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act with harassing and sexually harassing a female fisheries observer. An $18,000 NOVA (notice of violation and assessment) was issued.

• F/V Foreigner — Owner Anastasia Basargin and operator Arseny Reutov were charged jointly and severally under the Magnuson-Stevens Act with operating a vessel without an operable VMS (vessel monitoring system). A $7,500 NOVA was issued.

• F/V Ocean Invictus — Owners Ocean Bay Inc. and Kilokak Inc. and operator Robert Graham were charged jointly and severally under the Magnuson-Stevens Act with failing to retain pollock, an IR/IU (improved retention/improved utilization) species, up to the maximum retainable amount. A $5,750 NOVA was issued, and the case settled for $5,175.

Pollock overage charged

The NOAA Office of General Counsel reports the following Alaska case charged in June:

• F/V Ocean Invictus — Vessel owners Ocean Bay Inc. and Kilokak Inc., permit holder Ocean Invictus LLC, and operator Robert E. Graham were charged jointly and severally under the Magnuson-Stevens Act for exceeding the 300,000-pound daily limit on the harvest of pollock. A $13,159 NOVA was issued.

Feds report a number of enforcement actions

The NOAA Office of General Counsel reports the following Alaska cases charged in May:

• F/V American Dynasty — Medic Daniel Craig Azcarate was charged under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act with sexually harassing a female fisheries observer. A $36,000 NOVA (notice of violation and assessment) was issued.

• F/V Alaska Beauty — Owner Jireh Fisheries LLC and operator Curtis Waters were charged jointly and severally under the Magnuson-Stevens Act with directed fishing for pollock in an area closed to directed fishing. A $9,249 NOVA was issued, and the case settled for $9,141.50.

• F/V St. Nicholas — Operator Michael Walter Lasiter was charged under the Northern Pacific Halibut Act with fishing for halibut in violation of the annual management measures by possessing onboard a vessel Pacific halibut that has been filleted, mutilated, or otherwise disfigured in any manner. A $8,000 NOVA was issued. The NOVA became a final administrative decision due to default.