Down East seafood co., fishermen face charges
A Winter Harbor-based seafood company, one of its owners and four Maine fishermen are facing criminal charges for overharvesting sea scallops off the New Jersey coast.
Seafood wholesaler D.C. Air & Seafood Inc. and the five people have been charged with conspiring to prepare false reports and obstruction of justice in the overfishing of Atlantic sea scallops from March 2007 to March 2008, according to a press release from the U.S. District Attorney's office in New Jersey. The individuals charged are: company owner Christopher Byers, fishermen George Bamford of Harrington, Robert Hersey Jr. of Harpswell, Daniel Mahoney of Harrington and Michael McKenna of Steuben. According to the complaint, vessels operated by the fishermen harvested thousands of pounds of sea scallops in an area managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where the restricted fishing limit was 400 pounds. D.C. Air & Seafood then bought the scallops. The men attempted to conceal the overfishing by falsifying reports on the amount of scallops harvested, according to the complaint.
The men face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, while the company faces five years of probation and a fine of at least $500,000. Court appearances have not yet been scheduled.
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