Four fishermen from Maine and one from New Hampshire were sentenced in federal court in Portland this week for their involvement in a scheme to sell unreported Atlantic herring, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine announced Thursday.
A total of eight Mainers and one New Hampshire man have now been sentenced, including the owner, captains and crew of a commercial fishing vessel, “The Western Sea,” as well as the owners of local Maine fisheries accused of purchasing the unreported Atlantic herring.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) sets quotas and catch limits for commercial fishing vessels in an effort to ensure the sustainability of fisheries for various species, including Atlantic herring, which is used as the primary bait fish for Maine’s lobster industry.
NOAA requires that commercial fishing vessels complete a Fishing Vessel Trip Report (FVTR) at the end of each fishing trip to report the species caught, the weight of their catch, and the dealers to whom the catch is sold.
Federal prosecutors alleged that from June 2016 through September 2019, the crew members of the Rockland-based Western Sea conspired to submit false FVTRs to NOAA, and sold unreported Atlantic herring to dealers without federal permits.
The Western Sea crew would then split the proceeds of the unreported catches at the end of fishing weeks, resulting in Western Sea, Inc. issuing inaccurate 1099 forms to the crew members who failed to report all income.
“Protecting our nation’s honest fishermen is, and will always be, a top priority for NOAA,” said Michael Henry, Assistant Director for NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement’s Northeast Division.
“Egregious acts that undermine the sustainable management of our fisheries resources and steal from those in the industry who follow the rules will not be tolerated,” Henry said.
Sentenced this week on charges related to submitting false records to federal agencies and failure to pay taxes:
- Glenn Robbins, 77, Eliot; Western Sea Inc. owner and captain; 2 years of probation, $25,000 fine;
- Jason Parent, 51, Owls Head; crew member; 2 years probation, $28,685 in restitution;
- Stephen Little, 59, Warren; crew member; 2 years probation, $42,834 in restitution;
- Neil Herrick, 48, Rockland; crew member; 2 years probation, 50 hours community service, $32,889 in restitution;
- Ethan Chase, 46, Portsmouth, N.H.; part-time captain; 2 years probation, 50 hours community service, $39,289 in restitution.
Previously sentenced:
- Glenn Lawrence, 70, Owls Head; 2 years of probation, $25,000 fine, 50 hours community service;
- Duston Reed, 42, Waldoboro; Owner New Moon Fisheries, Inc.; 2 years of probation, $25,000 fine, 100 hours community service;
- Samuel Olsen, 73, Cushing; Owner Sam’s Seafood LLC; 1 year of probation, $9,500 fine, 50 hours community service;
- Andrew Banow, 37, Rockport; crew member; 1 year of probation, $1,000 fine, $20,177 restitution.
“Atlantic herring is a vital resource in Maine, particularly to the thousands of people involved in the lobster industry in the state. Led by Glenn Robbins and Western Sea, the defendants in this case subverted regulations for the sole purpose of lining their own wallets – regulations that are in place to ensure Atlantic herring are not overfished and are available for future generations of fishermen and safeguard the viability of the marine ecosystem,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of Maine Darcie McElwee in a Thursday press release.
“I commend the investigators on this case, including those from NOAA, for their efforts to ensure the sustainable management of an industry so vital to all that is Maine,” McElwee added.
The Maine Marine Patrol, NOAA, and the IRS – Criminal Investigation division investigated the case.
What’s the old saying … Don’t Steal, the Government Hates Competition.
Rockland appears in the news rather regularly.
Can they countersue citing the end of the Chevron rule?
@beachmom Excellent point! This really needs to be kept in mind for any lawsuits that fall within this.
… (Suddenly thinking about PUC and CMP rate hikes…)
Have not seen any fines yet for Wed growers or Chines nationals Joe
Good to know these bureaucrats know just how much herring should or shouldn’t be caught. Seems to me that should be determined by the demand from the lobster industry. Catch too much and the price will go down, too little price goes up. I think it’s called something like supply and demand. Which by the way, works pretty well. The all knowing gov’t looking out for you.
Should have just thrown their IDs overboard and started speaking Spanish. Then; instead of an indictment and fines, they would have just received a free cell phone and 3k a month.
I grew up with Mr Robbins. He was a good man from a good fishing family. NOAA are a bunch of government hacks who are trying desperately to destroy the lobster fishery in Maine so they can have the whole ocean for their windmills. They are the primary government hucksters supporting climate change. They lie all the time about weather events purposely trying to scare people about storms and more. They blame every storm, every cold snap and every hot spell like the current one on climate change. NOAA is the enemy of a free people. Like many in government they should be fired so they can no longer do harm to American citizens. Government is NOT our friend. We do NOT need NOAA regulating fishing. When stocks get down many will give up fishing and when stocks rebound they will go back to fishing again. Nobody is ever going to catch the last lobster or the last herring. The fish have done much better regulating themselves than those government liars at NOAA ever will. I gave my lobster license up back in 2004 because I hated dealing with these liars and con artists at NOAA.
Thank you Woodcanoe. Close NOAA and oodles more of the alphabet soup agencies. We would all still get along just fine.
Government, often through NOAA, has destroyed the herring industry, the shrimp fishery, the scallop fishery, the ground fish industry and gill netting. And all of this comes from well paid lying bureaucrats who have never spent a day at sea, know nothing like trying to make a living from an unforgiving sea. My mother’s brother died in a commercial fishing accident when I was 14. Two others from my hometown paid the same price that same year. The local cemeteries have a lot of tombstones in them on graves of men who were just trying to keep their families alive. I am ashamed that their memories have to be clouded by a bunch of overpaid lying government hacks who don’t know the first thing about making a living from the ocean. Wish I could put a few of them aboard some boats, in heavy sea conditions so they can know something about what it is like when they are telling their lies. All unelected bureaucrats stink more than a barrel of rotten lobster bait. And that’s being kind to the scumbags.
So just who is it that ELECTED the lying bureaucrats at NOAA, EPA, DEP and so on that make the laws we have to live with yet do not answer to the voters?. If the founders were around these idiots would have been hanging from trees before now. America was NOT set up to be governed by self important folks who don’t think they have to answer to any of us peons that they believe are beneath them.
Leave fishermen alone — it’s bad enough Maine has high taxes, while at the same time destroying employment opportunities.
Maine needs to come to the defence of it’s industries, not facilitate the State’s decline