Weekly Highlights - March 15, 2019

Northeast

• A Special Agent issued a written warning to a lobster fisherman who used an unpermitted fishing vessel to tend his offshore traps while his permitted vessel was out of commission.

Southeast

• Two Sunrise, Florida Special Agent and Florida Fish and Wildlife (FWC) investigators and officers conducted a full container examination of multiple species of state regulated fish and spiny lobster tails at a cold storage facility in Miami. The group targeted the exam based on recent state and Lacey Act violations of similar conduct.  The team discovered one scrubbed lobster tail and less than 1% of the examined snapper was found to be undersized. Special Agents turned the incident over to FWC and the importer voluntarily destroyed the illegal product.

Alaska

• An Enforcement Officer received notification by the observer program of a safety issue at a shore side plant.  The observers stated that the safety net between the catcher vessel and the plant was being removed prior to them getting back on the vessel which made them feel unsafe. The plant manager was contacted and provided documentation that it is a requirement for them to have the net in place per Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Coast Guard. The plant manager briefed his safety manager to ensure that it did not occur again. Compliance assistance was provided.

• An Enforcement Officer issued the operator of a fishing vessel a summary settlement of $2,119.87 for exceeding the pollock trip limit.

• An Enforcement Officer issued the operator of a fishing vessel a summary settlement of $2,239.91 for exceeding the pollock trip limit.

West Coast

• An Enforcement Officer received a complaint regarding two aircraft flying below 1,000 feet elevation within the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The owner of the aircraft was contacted and informed of the 1,000-foot minimum elevation within the sanctuary. Compliance assistance provided.

Pacific Islands

• A Special Agent in American Samoa, conducted a boarding of a U.S. flagged purse seine vessel, together with Officers from the Department of Marine & Wildlife (JEA partners). The boarding was completed in an effort to determine if any violations occurred, while operating in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean.  Fishing logs, positioning data, and bunkering receipts were all examined. No violations were found.

• A Special Agent in American Samoa, along with officers with the Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources (JEA) conducted a PSMA boarding of a Taiwanese flagged longline fishing vessel. Fishing logs, Regional Fishery Management Organization authorization paperwork, transshipment documents, and compliance with Conservation Management Measures were investigated. No violations were identified.