News |
Commercial fishing operation charged with overharvesting scallops in New Jersey |
|
ATLANTIC CITY — A Maine seafood company, one of its owners and four fishermen have been charged in a conspiracy to falsify records and obstruct justice in connection with overharvesting Atlantic sea scallops off the coast of New Jersey, authorities said.
The defendants took thousands of pounds of scallops above the legal limit in an area of the ocean where scallop fishing was limited, according to a federal complaint. They then falsified catch records to conceal the overharvesting, which allegedly occurred in 2007 and 2008, officials said. The company — wholesaler D.C. Air & Seafood Inc. — and the five men were charged in the complaint filed Friday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark. Charged in the complaint are: company owner Christopher Byers, 39, of Winter Harbor, Maine; and fishermen George Bamford, 37, and Daniel Mahoney, 48, both of Harrington, Maine; Robert E. Hersey Jr., 41, of Harpswell, Maine; and Michael McKenna, 35, of Steuben, Maine. Read the complete story from The Star-Ledger
|
|||
|
|
||
HASTINGS: Time to improve the Endangered Species Act
May 18, 2012 - When the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was signed into law in 1973 by President Nixon, he spoke about the importance of preserving “the rich array of animal life with which our country has been blessed.” I believe that goal is as important today as it was back then. However, after nearly 40 years, it’s time to take a fresh, honest look at the law and consider whether there are ways it could be improved to do a better job of protecting and recovering species.
