American Seafoods — all paid up

Readers surely will recall how federal regulators last year reached a $1.75 million settlement with American Seafoods Co. for alleged monkey business involving flow scales aboard three of the company's Bering Sea factory trawlers.

At the time, the feds failed to release the written settlement agreement.

Deckboss acquired the agreement through a Freedom of Information Act request, and is happy to share it with you here.

The two-page document says American Seafoods "admits the facts constituting the violation." It also set a March 31 deadline for paying the entire $1.75 million civil penalty.

So, has the company paid?

Julie Speegle, spokeswoman for the National Marine Fisheries Service, sent the following in response to our recent inquiry:

American Seafoods paid $1,750,000.00 on April 2, 2015. This case is considered "paid in full."

American Seafoods to pay $1.75M in scale scandal

Here's the press release.

Weighing changes

The National Marine Fisheries Service was to hold a public workshop yesterday in Seattle on proposed changes to, among other things, prevent tampering with scales used to weigh catches at sea.

Hmmm. Wonder if American Seafoods attended?

NMFS to take action to stop 'scale fraud'

The National Marine Fisheries Service is planning to tighten regulations on scales used to weigh catches aboard factory fishing vessels operating off Alaska.

NMFS says it has "investigated several cases of potential scale tampering and fraud that may have resulted in large underestimations of catch" in the Bering Sea pollock fishery.

Federal authorities have levied more than $2.7 million in fines against American Seafoods, the largest operator of factory trawlers in the pollock fishery.

At-sea scales can provide very precise and accurate estimates of catch, NMFS says, provided the scales are not monkeyed with.

It's now apparent that regulatory changes are needed to stop scale fraud, the agency says.

This briefing paper lays out the possible changes. Among them:

• Require vessels to report scale tests daily

• Expand video monitoring of the scale area

• Have an observer present whenever scales are recalibrated

• Enhance the "audit trail" on scale adjustments.

Feds and American Seafoods are talking

Last week brought news of some big enforcement actions against American Seafoods, the top operator of pollock factory trawlers in the Bering Sea.

The company is facing more than $2.7 million in fines for allegedly shorting catch weights, or "essentially stealing fish," in the words of federal authorities.

New cases have been brought involving two of the company's boats, the Ocean Rover and the Northern Eagle. A third case involving the trawler American Dynasty has been pending since early 2012.

Now, just because American Seafoods has been accused doesn't mean it has to simply roll over and pay the weighty fines.

It can try to negotiate them down.

Apparently that's the tack the company is taking.

A NOAA spokeswoman tells Deckboss the matter is now before an administrative law judge.

A hearing was scheduled for March 26 in the American Dynasty case, but the judge vacated the hearing date.

The proceeding was put off "at the request of both parties to give them an opportunity to discuss the potential for a global settlement of all three cases," the spokeswoman said via email.

The judge has ordered NOAA to file periodic status reports, and the parties are trying to reach a settlement by the end of June, the email said.

American Seafoods responds

American Seafoods issued this statement regarding federal charges that two of the company's factory trawlers underweighed catches of Alaska pollock:

We confirm that we've received two Notices of Violation and Assessments, or NOVAs, proposing civil penalties related to alleged inaccurate flow scale readings on two of our catcher/processor vessels. We are reviewing the NOVAs and related information to better understand the bases for the allegations. American Seafoods takes seriously its commitment to sustainable fishing practices and has cooperated fully with NOAA in investigating these matters. The company intends to respond to the allegations contained in the NOVAs after it has completed its review.

American Seafoods in more hot water; flow scale violations amounted to 'stealing fish,' feds say

Federal authorities today issued a press release that says in part:

On May 8, 2013, American Seafoods Company and the owners and operators of the catcher/processors Ocean Rover and Northern Eagle were charged by NOAA’s Office of General Counsel for tampering with the equipment used for weighing Alaska pollock. Pollock on these vessels are processed for many uses, from frozen fish sticks and imitation crab to roe and fish oil.

The respondents in these cases are alleged to have adjusted their flow scales to record lower weights, and then recorded these inaccurate weights in their logbooks in violation of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the American Fisheries Act.

Flow scales are used to ensure accurate catch accounting. Adjusting the equipment to record a lower weight allowed the vessels to go over their quotas, essentially stealing fish from others permitted in the Alaska pollock fishery.

These are not the first cases of their kind. NOAA’s Office of General Counsel issued a Notice of Violation and Assessment (NOVA) in January 2012 for similar violations alleged to have occurred on another American Seafoods Company catcher/processor, the American Dynasty. The penalty being sought in this pending case is $543,500. In the Ocean Rover case, NOAA’s Office of General Counsel issued a NOVA proposing an assessed penalty of $848,000; in the Northern Eagle case, General Counsel issued a NOVA proposing an assessed penalty of $1,337,000.

Feds propose $543,500 fine, charge fish-weighing violations on factory trawler American Dynasty

The American Dynasty in Dutch Harbor. Jim Paulin photo

The first we heard of a potential scandal involving the Bering Sea pollock factory trawler American Dynasty was more than four years ago, at a meeting of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

Federal agents said at the time that they were investigating allegations that hauls of fish were inaccurately weighed aboard the 272-foot trawler, which belongs to Seattle-based American Seafoods.

Well, now we know more.

The NOAA Office of the General Counsel, Enforcement Section, says the vessel owner, manager and operator have been charged with numerous civil infractions.

A NOAA case summary doesn't specify exactly when the charges were filed, just sometime during the first six months of the year.

The agency is proposing a $543,500 fine.

Here's the full NOAA summary on the enforcement action, beginning with the file number:

AK0700698; F/V American Dynasty — Owner, manager, and operator were charged in thirty-two counts under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act for failing to maintain or operate a flow scale to obtain accurate weights; for submitting inaccurate or false data, statements or reports; for failing to comply with flow scale testing requirements; for failing to provide notification to an observer and failing to have an observer present; for failing to comply with reporting requirements; and for failing to weigh catch, interfering with or biasing the observer's sampling procedure, and failing to provide reasonable assistance. A $543,500 NOVA (Notice of Violation and Assessment) was issued.