Local San Pedro Fish Processor Accepts Responsibility for Quota Violations

LOS ANGELES, May 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Tri-Marine Fish Company, a local processor of raw fish products, agreed today to enter a plea to an Information that charges two misdemeanor violations of certain federal and state regulations requiring accurate record keeping of catches of sardines.  According to the plea agreement, Tri-Marine Fish Company agreed to enter guilty pleas to the two misdemeanor violations and accept certain conditions of future compliance in its record keeping.  In addition, the company agreed to pay a fine of $150,000.  The plea agreement came about following an audit of records at the company conducted by investigators from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration ("NOAA") and the California Department of Fish & Game.  

"The record keeping problems we encountered have been corrected and our internal control procedures have been revised accordingly," said Vince Torre, General Manager of the Tri-Marine Fish Company facility in San Pedro.  "Tri-Marine Fish Company has been an important part of the San Pedro fishing community for over ten years and looks forward to providing its services to the community for years to come."

NOAA, the federal agency responsible for overseeing coastal fishing grounds, has recently been under fire before Congress and the public after the release in January 2010 of a report highly critical of NOAA's enforcement practices and priorities.  Issued by NOAA's Inspector General, the report criticized NOAA for its overuse of criminal sanctions for mistakes that were more appropriately considered civil or regulatory in nature.  On February 3, NOAA pledged to "[d]evelop a plan to review law enforcement staff and procedures with a focus on ensuring that criminal procedures are not applied to civil offenses."  

Tri-Marine Fish Company is a California limited liability company engaged in the processing and sale of mackerel, squid, sardines and other local species of fish for export, as well as for local and national distribution.  

SOURCE Tri-Marine Fish Company

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