NOAA fisheries attorney Charles Juliand's inflexible demand for cash — nearly $50,000 from a well-liked Rhode Island commercial fisherman — seemed like just another example of hard bargaining at the time, four years ago.
But Juliand's rejection of offers by Greg Duckworth to surrender his federal groundfishing permit in lieu of cash, and Juliand's rejection of any installment payment plan has now taken on what one private attorney has called "provocative" overtones as questions swirl around the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's dependence on the fines captured from fishermen to fund overseas travel by agents and operational spending by NOAA's Office of General Counsel.
"Excessive fines are normal," said Gloucester-based fisheries attorney Stephen Ouellette. "Regulatory compliance is less important to them than collecting money for their expenses."
Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.
Mr. Juliand's lawyer profile on Martindale
Saving Seafood has obtained the original documents between Mr. Juliand and Mr. Duckworth's attorney and makes them available below so that readers can judge for themselves:
*** READ ALL THE ITEMS BELOW IN ONE CONSOLIDATED DOCUMENT [PDF] ***
Read the notice of permit sanction, dated June 27, 2006, from Mr. Juliand to Mr. Duckworth [PDF]
Read the notice of permit sanction, dated June 27, 2006, from Mr. Juliand to Mr. Duckworth, sanctioning two other fishing vessels. [PDF 1] [PDF 2]
Read the letter from Mr. McSally to Mr. Juliand, dated July 21, 2006, stating Mr. Duckworth is unable to get a line of credit to pay his fines [PDF] | [Read the rejection letter from a lender – PDF]