• F/V Alaskan Lady — In an initial decision issued March 7, 2022, Administrative Law Judge Susan Biro found crewman Eliman S. Bah liable, and imposed a civil penalty of $20,000, for sexually harassing an observer in violation of the Magnuson‐Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson‐Stevens Act). Judge Biro found that Bah harassed the observer both by conduct that had sexual connotations, as well as by otherwise creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment. The judge's decision followed a two‐day hearing that occurred Sept. 1-2, 2021.
• F/V Magnus Martens — Owner Magnus A. Martens LLC and operator Jeb Phillips were charged jointly and severally under the Magnuson‐Stevens Act with operating a vessel in the Bering Sea Pacific cod pot fishery without carrying an operable NMFS‐approved vessel monitoring system (VMS) and without complying with VMS requirements. A $36,000 NOVA (notice of violation and assessment) was issued.
• F/V Cape Kiwanda — Owner B&N Fisheries Co. and operators Ronald Weyburn Naughton and Cory Dehning were charged jointly and severally under Magnuson‐Stevens Act with exceeding the Rockfish Program maximum retainable amount (MRA) for pollock in the Gulf of Alaska. In Count 1, a $1,099.58 penalty was assessed against B&N Fisheries Co. and operator Ronald Weyburn Naughton for exceeding the MRA by 15,815 pounds (a 2,869 percent overage), worth $1,099.58. In Count 2, a $6,502.86 penalty was assessed against B&N Fisheries Co. and operator Cory Dehning for exceeding the MRA by 43,746 pounds (a 729.1 percent overage), worth $3,502.86. A $7,602.44 NOVA was issued, and the case settled for $6,842.20.
• F/V Silver Lady — Vessel co-owners Hammer & Son LLC and Lonnie R. Chestnut and operator/IFQ permit holder William R. Hammer Jr. were charged jointly and severally under the Magnuson‐Stevens Act with unlawfully discarding at least 990 sablefish. A $14,000 NOVA was issued, and the case settled for $12,600.
