2 Convicted in Lacey Violation for False Statements on CITES Export Forms
The Justice Department has announced that Steve Kinder and his wife, Cornelia Joyce Kinder, and their two caviar companies, Kinder Caviar Inc. and Black Star Caviar Company, pleaded guilty to trafficking in and falsely labeling illegally harvested paddlefish. The two companies were in the business of exporting paddlefish eggs as caviar to customers in foreign countries.
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Paddlefish are CITES-Protected Species, also Controlled Under Lacey Act
Paddlefish (Polydon spathula), whose eggs are marketed as caviar, are protected by federal and Ohio state law. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), which is codified in U.S. law through the Endangered Species Act, regulates international trade in certain species listed on one of three Appendices. Paddlefish are a listed species and they, and their parts, which were harvested in the U.S., may be exported only if they are accompanied by a valid export permit issued by the Fish & Wildlife Service.
Additionally, the Lacey Act makes it a crime to transport or sell fish, or their parts, knowing that the fish were harvested in violation of any state’s law. Among other things, the Lacey Act also makes it a crime to make or submit a false record, account or label for, or false identification of, fish or fish parts which were, or were intended to be, exported, transported or sold.
Woman Made False Statements in CITES Export Forms for Paddlefish Eggs
According to the plea agreement, Cornelia Kinder admitted to making false statements on behalf of Kinder Caviar in a CITES Export Registration Form for paddlefish eggs on or about March 15, 2007. Specifically, she misrepresented the amount of legally-harvested paddlefish eggs that she could provide documentation for, as well as misidentified the fishermen who harvested the paddlefish and the location of harvest.
She also admitted to making false statements on behalf of Black Star Caviar Company in a CITES Export Registration Form for paddlefish eggs on or about December 18, 2010. Specifically, she completed the form using the name of a subordinate employee and forged that employee’s signature on the form in order to give the impression that she was not the applicant.
Both Admitted to Illegally Harvesting Paddlefish in Ohio River
Both Steve and Cornelia Kinder admitted to aiding and abetting one another in harvesting paddlefish in Ohio waters, on or about May 5, 2007, and transporting the paddlefish to Kentucky with the intent to sell them when, in the exercise of due care, they should have known that the fish were harvested in violation of Ohio law.
Export Companies Agreed to Pay $5K Each, Serve 3-Year Probation
As part of a plea agreement, both Kinder Caviar and Black Star Caviar Company have each agreed to pay a $5,000 fine and serve a three-year term of probation, during which time those companies will be prohibited from applying for or receiving a CITES Export Permit. Additionally, the boat and truck used in furtherance of the Lacey Act crimes have been forfeited.
Both Steve and Cornelia Kinder have agreed to serve a three-year term of probation, during which time they will each perform 100 hours of community service, be prohibited from fishing anywhere in the Ohio River where that river forms the border between Ohio and Kentucky, and be prohibited from applying for or receiving a CITES Export Permit, either on behalf of themselves or anyone else. They also face possible suspension of their Kentucky commercial fishing licenses.
(See ITT's Online Archives 11083044 for summary of FWS notice stating that it will not issue export permits under CITES for paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) and its products such as roe and caviar harvested from impounded waters in Tennessee (such as reservoirs and lakes) during the completed 2010-2011 fishing season.
See ITT's Online Archives 07020115 for summary of FWS' 2007 export quotas and summary of its CITES-based restrictions on sturgeon caviar and products. See ITT's Online Archives 06010915 for summary announcing the CITES' halt on imports and export of beluga sturgeon caviar.)