Illegal sale of rockfish to be investigated in Maryland

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Sep 11, 2007 by Ben Mook

For more than four years, federal and state investigators have used front companies, undercover buyers and even forensic examinations of fish to build their investigation into the illegal sale of rockfish by a St. Mary's County commercial fisherman and a Piney Point seafood wholesaler.

The investigation culminated in a host of search and seizure warrants issued and executed on Aug. 29 against Golden Eye Seafood, of Piney Point, its owner Robert M. Lumpkins, and Joseph P. Nelson Jr., a Great Mills-based commercial fisherman. According to documents filed in the U.S. District Court of Maryland in Greenbelt, investigators were seeking evidence related to the buying and selling of rockfish that were improperly tagged and at times over and under the legal size limits.

There was no answer at Golden Eye Seafood or at Lumpkins' residence on Monday. Nelson's wife, Michelle, declined to comment on the investigation when reached at home Monday afternoon.

The investigation was multi-jurisdictional and included officers from the Maryland Natural Resources Police, which supplied the initial tip, and the Virginia Marine Police. Overseeing the investigation is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which applied for the search warrants.

Andrew Ames, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice, which represents the Fish and Wildlife Service, declined to comment on the open investigation. According to court records, as of Monday charges had not been filed.

According to affidavits signed to secure the warrants, investigators claim the investigation began in March 2003 when Virginia Marine Police Special Agent John Adams first approached Lumpkins. Adams said he posed as a seafood dealer with the fictional Parks Seafood, and offered to sell Golden Eye $1,276 worth of rockfish. That sale reportedly took place after the rockfish season had closed.

Adams and Virginia Marine Police Special Agent Lt. John E. Croft told the court they made multiple other transactions with Lumpkins in 2003 and into 2004. Throughout the transactions, Adams and Croft said Lumpkins bought undersized and oversized rockfish, which at times were sold despite the season being closed.

According to the affidavit filed to secure the search warrant against Nelson, investigators also began interacting with him in 2003. Starting in September 2003, Adams and Croft again posed as undercover seafood dealers. The pair said they bought hundreds of pounds of rockfish throughout the year, including fish that were undersized, oversized or tagged with expired tags.

Investigators also claim that Nelson used improper tags in some of the transactions. In October 2003, Adams said he bought 109 pounds of rockfish at $1.65 per pound, and the fish had tags saying they had been caught with a hook and line. A week later, Adams said he bought 475 pounds from Nelson at $1.65 per pound.

The senior veterinary medical examiner of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducted a forensic exam on a sample of the fish taken from each buy. The exam determined the fish had not been caught with a hook.

Striped bass, or rockfish, has been the official state fish of Maryland since 1965. The species was deemed to have been overfished, and a moratorium on commercial and recreational fishing was imposed in 1984. The moratorium was lifted partially in 1990, and rockfish were declared recovered in 1995. Quotas were installed for commercial fishermen for pounds caught, sizing and whether the fish were caught using a hook and line or net. The commercial fishery is currently capped at 1,231 licensees.

Possessing, transporting or selling fish illegally is a violation of the federal Lacey Act. Violations of this law carry stiff penalties that can reach up to $500,000 in fines, as well as possible jail time. Violations of the state's fisheries laws carry fines. Investigators cited six Maryland regulations they were seeking evidence for during the searches.

"It's a tough law you don't want to find yourself on the wrong side of," said John Connelly, president of The National Fisheries Institute, an advocacy organization for the seafood industry.

Connelly said that while he was unfamiliar with the particulars of the investigation, the institute was glad to see the federal and state agencies investigating possible wrongdoing. He said fisheries laws can be very strict, and for the majority of seafood dealers who work within them, it can be hard to compete.

"We're encouraged that they're taking these kinds of actions," Connelly said. "If they don't let the good guys know that they're not going to have to compete with the cheaters, it can be discouraging."