Weekly Highlights - November 8, 2019

Northeast

• A Special Agent opened an investigation into a subject who posted pictures on Facebook of seals which appear to have been illegally taken.  The subject is posing on the back of a fishing vessel holding up two dead seals with a dead shark displayed in front of him. 

• A Special Agent opened an investigation into a subject who posted pictures on Facebook of seals which appear to have been illegally taken.  The subjects is standing on the back of a fishing vessel with a pile of at least 11 bloody dead seals at his feet.  A criminal referral was forwarded through GC.  

Southeast

• A Jacksonville Special Agent attended a status hearing for a subject charged with the take of a Smalltooth Sawfish, an ESA protected species.  During the hearing the subject changed his plea to guilty.  The Magistrate proceeded with a plea hearing and scheduled a sentencing in December. 

• A San Juan Special Agent and a Galveston Enforcement Officer conducted a joint patrol with CBP Air & Marine in Puerto Rico.  The patrol was concentrated in the closed area of Bajo de Sico.  Boardings were conducted on commercial fishing vessels and no violations were documented and compliance assistance was provided.

Alaska

• Enforcement Officers conducted a dockside boarding of a fishing vessel. Following the offload the vessel had an overage of 375 lbs. of Halibut. A summary settlement was offered for $2,268.65. 

Pacific Islands

• An Enforcement Officer issued a $2,000.00 Summary Settlement Notice to a Hawaii based Longline Fishing Vessel owner/operator for fishing without an operable Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) unit, while conducting fishing operations in the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) area. 

• An Enforcement Officer issued a $1,000.00 Summary Settlement Notice to the Owner/Captain of a Hawaii based Longline Fishing Vessel, for refusing reasonable assistance to an NOAA observer from collecting scientific data while on fishing in the WCPFC area.