Tag Archives: F/V Lady Samaira
North Carolina Commercial Fisherman Pleads Guilty to Illegally Harvesting and Selling Atlantic Striped Bass
The 
announced that today in federal court, James Ralph Craddock, 71, of Manns Harbor, pleaded guilty to federal charges regarding the illegal harvest and sale of Atlantic Striped Bass from federal waters off the coast of North Carolina in 2010. According to information in the public record, in February 2010, a Special Agent with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) received information that commercial trawlers were illegally fishing for Atlantic Striped Bass in federal waters off the coast of North Carolina. A single patrol vessel in the area intercepted one of 17 commercial trawlers in the EEZ, the fishing vessel Lady Samaira, boarded the vessel and found 173 Atlantic Striped Bass. The captain later admitted to taking the fish from the EEZ. Given the other commercial trawlers in the same area, NOAA conducted an analysis of electronic data and written reports from those vessels. Based on its review, NOAA determined that during the North Carolina 20-day ocean trawl season in January/February 2010, Craddock, then Captain of the 74-foot commercial fishing vessel Capt Ralph, harvested over 12,000 pounds of Atlantic Striped Bass. Read the rest here 19:50
N.C. Man Pleads Guilty to Illegal Bass Fishing
A North Carolina fisherman pleaded guilty Monday to the illegal harvest and sale of Atlantic striped bass in federal waters in 2010. The Justice Department said the charges against Dewey Willis Jr. of Newport, N.C., stemmed from an multi-defendant investigation involving 13 other commercial fishermen. As described in a written notice of Willis’s pleas, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration received a tip regarding the fishermen’s alleged illegal activities involving striped bass, and directed the U.S. Coast Guard to board the fishing vessel Lady Samaira in February 2010. Willis and the other fishermen onboard were charged with violating the Lacey Act, a federal law that prohibits individuals from transporting, selling or buying fish and wildlife harvested illegally. Now that he was entered a guilty plea, Willis faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Read the rest here 17:15
