The same judges who handled perhaps the agency's two highest-profile New England cases — the bogus NOAA enforcement push to shut down the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction, and the one that cost New Bedford-based fisherman Larry Yacubian more than $400,000 in fines — have now been assigned to handle cases in which those same parties are seeking to recover legal fees.
Meanwhile, as SavingSeafood reported, "Numerous Freedom of Information Act requests have yielded documents suggesting, but not quite confirming, that the (Kuala Lampur) trip was paid for using the Asset Forfeiture Fund." That's the same fund that was bolstered by the $430,000 fine levied against Yacubian.
There's more, of course. While also rightfully seeking to recoup legal costs, the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction will also once again be facing Administrative Law Judge Walter J. Brudzinski.
Read the complete editorial from The Gloucester Times.