Illegal rockfish scheme investigation results in USD 1 million fines

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In total, the defendants were sentenced to over 140 months in prison, and total fines and restitution exceed USD 1,361,000. (Photo: Stock File/FIS)

Wednesday, December 01, 2010, 15:30 (GMT + 9)
Illegal rockfish scheme investigation results in USD 1 million fines

Ocean Pro Ltd (Profish) plus its vice-president and its fish buyer were sentenced recently in US District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland, for illegally harvesting striped bass for over a decade from the Potomac River. This has been called the largest ever commercial fish poaching plot in the Chesapeake Bay.

Timothy Lydon, a part owner and officer in Profish, one of Washington's primary seafood wholesalers, last week was sentenced to 21 months in prison and fined USD 60,000. Benjamin Clough, a fish-buyer for the company, was sentenced to 15 months in prison and fined USD 7,500.

Profish was sentenced to three years probation, fined USD 575,000, restitution in the amount of USD 300,000 and a special assessment of USD 5,000. Gordon Jett, a fisher who supplied the striped bass or rockfish, was sentenced to five months in prison, five months of home of detention and fined USD 4,572 in restitution.

All the defendants’ fines will go to the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund and restitution will go to the Commonwealth of Virginia Marine Resources Commission and the State of Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

"When fishermen and fish wholesalers do not comply with the law, they imperil the entire fishery and adversely impact livelihoods of those in the fishing industry who abide by the law, and reap an impermissible economic advantage through their non-compliance," said Ignacia S Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice. "The Chesapeake Bay watershed is a national treasure, and the striped bass fishery is an important resource that we must protect from plunder for our enjoyment and that of future generations."

Following a five-week jury trial, Lydon, Clough and Profish last July were judged guilty of purchasing illegally caught striped bass from the Potomac River in Virginia and Maryland from 1995-2007. All were convicted of conspiracy and violations of the Lacey Act, which prohibits the transport, sale or purchase of illegally harvested fish and wildlife.

In total, the defendants were sentenced to more than 140 months in prison, and total fines and restitution exceed USD 1,361,000.

A unit of federal and state lawyers as well as undercover officers investigated the black market operation for five years. It ended in 19 men and three corporations being convicted.

By Natalia Real
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