Spanish-Flagged Vessel Charged With 67 Counts of Fishing Without a US Permit
A Spanish-flagged fishing vessel faces a possible $7.4 million civil penalty for 67 counts of fishing in US waters without a US permit, according to NOAA’s Office of General Counsel for Enforcement and Litigation in the Pacific Islands region. The penalty would be the highest ever assessed by NOAA.NOAA issued the Notice of Violation and Assessment, known as a NOVA, on June 2, to Spanish company Albacora S.A., owner of the Albacora Uno. It charges the purse seine vessel with fishing inside the US Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the western and central Pacific Ocean over two years.The case resulted from an investigation by agents with NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement (OLE), who boarded the vessel when it docked in the US port of Pago Pago, American Samoa, in March 2010, and found records do...