Maine Importer Pleads Guilty to Lacey Act Violations After Violating Foreign Law
A Maine importer faces up to $1.25 million in fines and forfeitures after pleading guilty to Lacey Act violations related to seafood it imported from Canada, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine said (here). ISF Trading bought sea urchins from a Canadian supplier, TGK Fisheries of Grand Manan, that wasn’t authorized to export to the U.S., then brought them across the border under the false label of a different Canadian company, Matthews Seafood, that was allowed to export, the U.S. attorney’s office said. ISF also faces up to five years of probation.
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According to court documents, the Canadian Fish Inspection Act and Regulations require that exporters of fish from Canada hold a fish export license or process and store fish for export in registered establishments. Under the Lacey Act it is a violation to import fish and wildlife that has been taken, possessed, transported and sold in violation of foreign law and regulation.
Between December 2010 and February 2011, ISF illegally imported a total of about 48,000 pounds of sea urchins, whose processed roe was worth at least $172,800, from TGK through the Calais Port of Entry under the false Matthews label. The scheme was discovered in February 2011, when ISF attempted to import 8,000 pounds of sea urchins using an invoice in the name of Matthews, the U.S. attorney’s office said. A CBP officer became suspicious when he noticed that the totes containing the sea urchins did not have the labels required by law, it said.