The crew of the US Coast Guard national security cutter USCGC Waesche seized approximately 5.4 tonnes of unreported pollock roe, valued at over US$65,000, after uncovering significant violations of federal fishing regulations aboard the catcher-processor vessel Northern Eagle.
The boarding occurred approximately 15 nautical miles north of Dutch Harbor, Alaska, on March 26.
It was initiated based on reasonable suspicion of a significant living marine resources (LMR) violation, following a pre-boarding audit by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement (OLE), which revealed major discrepancies between the vessel’s production reports and electronic logbook.
During the boarding, Waesche’s crew obtained the vessel’s logs. After further analysis, NOAA Fisheries OLE confirmed that the vessel recorded less catch in its logbook than the vessel’s reported production weight.
The production weight exceeded its reported catch weight by 1,223 tonnes.
The investigation also uncovered evidence from a previous voyage indicating the underreporting and offload of approximately 12.4 tonnes of pollock roe, valued at an estimated US$150,000.
At the request of NOAA Fisheries OLE, Waesche 's boarding team remained on board Northern Eagle as the latter transited to Dutch Harbor. They observed the offload and documented 11,524 boxes of pollock roe, which was 241 boxes more than the 11,283 declared in the vessel's production report.
Following the discovery, Rear Admiral Bob Little, the Coast Guard Arctic District commander, authorised the seizure of the unreported product. The seized pollock roe has been secured in a cold storage facility in Dutch Harbor.
The coast guard will work with NOAA Fisheries OLE for further investigation and potential prosecution.
