Tag Archives: U.S. District Court

Biden administration sued over Virginia offshore wind farm approval

A conservative think tank on Monday sued the Biden administration in an effort to reverse approval of what would be the largest offshore wind farm of its kind. The Heartland Institute filed the suit with the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, a nonprofit that advocates for an economically libertarian approach to environmental action and has denied the existence of human-caused climate change. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, seeks to reverse the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) approval of Dominion Energy’s 176-turbine wind project offshore Virginia. more, >>click to read<< 08:30

Maine lobstermen sue to stop new electronic tracking

Maine lobstermen are suing to stop a new suing to stop they argue violates their constitutional rights. In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Maine, the five lobstermen, who are being supported by the Sustainable Maine Fishing Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the Maine Lobstering Union, argue the rules present an “immediate and serious risk” to their constitutional right to privacy. The lobstermen are being represented by the Portland law firm of McCloskey, Mina, Cunniff & Frawley LLC. The new rules, which the Maine Department of Marine Resources began implementing on Dec. 15, 2023, require lobstermen with federal permits to install electronic trackers that monitor the movement of their boats 24/7. more, >>click to read<< 13:42

‘Deadliest Catch’ boat owner sues production company over former deckhand’s medical care

The owners of a fishing vessel featured in “Deadliest Catch” are suing the reality TV show’s production company and a contractor after a former crew member blamed a lack of prompt care during the pandemic for leaving him with serious medical problems. The civil lawsuit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Alaska by attorneys for the F/V Northwestern, centers on 58-year-old former deckhand Nick Mavar Jr., a longtime cast member of the show that debuted in 2005 on the Discovery Channel. The suit references a separate complaint Mavar filed in December in Washington’s King County Superior Court seeking more than $1 million in damages from the Northwestern’s owners, listed by Washington state records as Sig Hansen, the boat’s captain, and his wife, June. F/V Northwestern LLC is licensed in Alaska. >click to read<, and, ‘Deadliest Catch’ Lawsuit: Why Nick Mavar Jr. Sued Sig Hansen Over Medical Care >click to read< 12:02

Mills & Maine Congressional Delegation Respond to First Circuit Court’s Decision

Portland, Maine – Governor Janet Mills and U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King and U.S. Representatives Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden issued the following statement today in response to the First Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision reinstating a ban on lobster fishing gear in nearly 1,000 square miles in the Gulf of Maine: “Once again, Maine’s lobstermen have been unfairly targeted by a misguided court decision. Today’s ruling fails to acknowledge the substantial steps that Maine’s lobster industry has already taken to comply with gear change rules to protect the North Atlantic Right Whale. We are deeply disappointed and will continue to strongly advocate for our state’s lobster industry.” >link<

Maine politicians blast ‘unfair’ court decision targeting lobster gear – A federal circuit court has reinstated a ban on lobster fishing gear in a nearly 1,000-square-mile area off New England to try to protect endangered whales. The U.S. District Court for the District of Maine issued a preliminary injunction to halt enforcement of the rules. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston vacated that ruling Tuesday. >click to read< 11:09

Gulf Coast Seafood Alliance Supports Lawsuit Challenging Unlawful Red Grouper Quotas

Commercial fishermen and members of the Gulf of Mexico seafood industry have filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of a recent decision by NOAA Fisheries to reallocate red grouper quota to recreational fishermen at the expense of the commercial fishery. The Gulf Coast Seafood Alliance supports the efforts by the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance, Southern Offshore Fishing Association, and A.P. Bell Fish Company to challenge this decision, in an effort to restore a fair allocation for commercial fishermen. The lawsuit, filed late on Friday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, challenges recent red grouper allocations approved by NOAA as part of Amendment 53 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico. >click to read< 16:16

Maine Granted Intervenor Status in Lawsuit Challenging Federal Regulations

Governor Janet Mills announced today that the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) has been granted intervenor status in Maine Lobstermen’s Association v National Marine Fisheries Service, a lawsuit before the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. that challenges Federal regulations hurting Maine’s vital lobster industry. It is the Mills Administration’s latest effort to stand up for the lobster industry and its hard working men and women in the face of the Federal government’s burdensome proposal. >click to read< 09:26

Windfarm plans for Atlantic coast hit fishermen hard and threaten US food supply

Tom Williams, a lifelong fisherman whose sons now captain the family’s two boats, doesn’t scare easily—not after the storms, regulations and economic ups and downs he’s weathered. But the wind farms planned for much of the nation’s Atlantic coastline do scare him. His own extended family began fishing in Rhode Island in 1922. “What’s going to be left for my grandchildren?” he asks. “It’s a way of life, and this is the biggest threat we’ve faced.” >click to read< 21:00

U.S. agrees to $725,000 settlement in fishing vessel pollution case

San Diego-based JM Fisheries LLC, G.S. Fisheries Inc., the companies’ manager, and the chief engineer of the commercial fishing vessel F.V. Capt. Vincent Gann have agreed to pay a total of $725,000 in civil penalties to settle federal Clean Water Act claims related to oil pollution violations.,, San Diego-based JM Fisheries LLC, G.S. Fisheries Inc., the companies’ manager, and the chief engineer of the commercial fishing vessel Capt. Vincent Gann have agreed to pay a total of $725,000 in civil penalties to settle federal Clean Water Act claims related to oil pollution violations. >click to read< 17:09

Fishermen in NCLA Video Explain the Need to Reel in NOAA’s at-Sea Monitor Rule

The New Civil Liberties Alliance released a video today outlining why it is unconstitutional to force Atlantic herring fishermen to fund government-mandated monitors at sea. It is “the equivalent of having a cop in your car who’s policing you while you drive, and you have to pay his salary out of your own pocket,” said Meghan Lapp, Fisheries Liaison & General Manager for Seafreeze, Ltd. about the rule being challenged in Relentless Inc., et al. v. U.S. Dept. of Commerce, et al. NCLA, a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group, represents these private fishing companies,,, The at-sea monitor  mandate, issued in 2018, is unlawfully “industry-funded.” >click to read< 08:50

NCLA Seeks Summary Judgment in Case Challenging NOAA’s Unlawful at-Sea Monitor Mandate

The New Civil Liberties Alliance, a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group, has filed a motion asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island to award summary judgment in favor of NCLA’s clients in Relentless Inc., et al. v. U.S. Dept. of Commerce, et al. NCLA argues that the U.S. Department of Commerce, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the National Marine Fisheries Service have no power to make fishermen pay for monitors the government puts on their boats. So, NCLA is asking the Court to declare NOAA’s regulation seeking to implement an industry-funded, at-sea-monitor mandate on the nation’s Atlantic herring fishermen unconstitutional and set it aside. >click to read<20:31

Judge restores Orin C deal, lawyer appeals

A federal judge last Friday ordered the parties in the wrongful death lawsuit tied to the 2015 sinking of the Orin C to adhere to a previous settlement agreement, halting the highly contentious case that was set to go to trial next month in Boston. But on Tuesday, Joseph Orlando Jr., attorney for the three plaintiffs, appealed the settlement order and dismissal by U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris.,, The order by Saris and Orlando’s subsequent appeal are the most recent twists and turns in the case that has fixated the city’s waterfront amid accusations by Orlando that Gloucester Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken and others tampered with his expert witness, Gloucester Harbormaster T.J. Ciarametaro, by trying to pressure him to withdraw from the case or be fired from his harbormaster position. >click to read< 11:23

North Atlantic Right Whale: State must secure incidental take permit within 90 days to to avoid fishery closures

Last week, U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani said that Massachusetts has done the most of any state in the country to keep endangered North Atlantic right whales from becoming entangled in lobster pot and gillnet lines.,, In her April 30 decision, Talwani postponed ruling on closing fisheries, but gave the state just 90 days to obtain an incidental take permit under the Endangered Species Act from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. On Monday, a federal judge in Maine ruled that a similar suit could proceed, denying NOAA’s motion to dismiss. Both injunctions were brought forward by Richard “Max” Strahan, a longtime and controversial right whale activist with several prominent cases over the past two decades who sued under the Endangered Species Act. >click to read< 11:35

Ruling in whale case signals turmoil for lobster industry

It is too early to know exactly how the ruling in a lawsuit brought by a group of environmental organizations will affect the lobster industry. U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg asked those groups and NOAA to file briefs suggesting an appropriate “injunctive remedy” against further violations of the Endangered Species Act. Whatever that remedy may be, it is likely to come soon and have a significant impact on Maine lobstermen. During the past several months, Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher hosted a series of meetings along the coast with members of the lobster industry,, Throughout the process, Keliher warned that the pending federal lawsuit against NOAA was a “wild card” that could affect the regulatory process in undetermined ways. Last week, Keliher said that with the release of the court’s decision the wild card had been played. >click to read< 17:51

Fishing companies fined $1M for dumping oil into New Bedford harbor

“Let me make myself clear — it is not enough to come in here and plead guilty and then go out and say, ‘the government is big and strong and we had to do this as a cost of doing business,’” federal Judge William Young told owner Barry Cohen at U.S. District Court. “These are crimes — they were meant by Congress to be crimes.” Sea Harvest Inc. and Fishing Vessel Enterprises, Inc., the operators and owners of the two commercial fishing boats, respectively, which spilled the oil, pleaded guilty to two counts of violating the Clean Water Act, which criminalizes oil spills in U.S. waters and shorelines. >click to read< 07:06

DOJ: F/V Owner & Operator Fined $1 mln>click to read< 12/18/2019 11:35

New Bedford, Massachusetts fishing company, managers, vessel captain to pay in civil penalties

New Bedford, Massachusetts-based Vila Nova do Corvo II, Inc., company managers Carlos Rafael and Stephanie Rafael DeMello, and vessel captain Carlos Pereira agreed to pay a total of $511,000 in civil penalties and to perform vessel improvements. This was to ensure compliance measures to resolve federal Clean Water Act claims stemming from oily bilge discharges from the commercial fishing vessel Vila Nova do Corvo II, a related discharge of fuel oil filters, and violations of pollution control regulations. The United States filed the complaint in this action in April 2019 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.  >click to read< 13:00

New Bedford Fishing Boat Captain Sentenced

The former captain of a New Bedford fishing boat owned by Carlos Rafael, a/k/a “The Codfather,” was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for interfering with a U.S Coast Guard (USCG) inspection of a fishing boat off the Massachusetts coast. Thomas D. Simpson, 57, of South Portland, Maine, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to two years of probation, with the first four months to be served in home confinement with electronic monitoring, and ordered to pay a $15,000 fine. In August 2018, Simpson pleaded guilty to one count of destruction or removal of property subject to seizure and inspection. Simpson was the captain of the fishing vessel Bulldog,,, >click to read<18:04

Charges, defendants added to lobster wholesaler’s lawsuit alleging embezzlement

A lawsuit by a Saco lobster wholesaler that alleges a partner in the business embezzled more than $1.5 million has been moved to federal court and expanded with new defendants and RICO charges. The original lawsuit was filed in August in York County Superior Court. It was moved this month to U.S. District Court in Portland. The wholesaler, Sea Salt, which also operates a restaurant on Route 1 in Saco, alleges that the man overseeing the company’s shipping operation, Matthew Bellerose of Scarborough, set up a sham customer,,, >click to read<13:03

Smuggling the “Codfather” Profits: Bristol County Sheriff Captain Convicted

A Captain with the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office was convicted today by a federal jury in connection with helping Carlos Rafael, known as the Codfather in the fishing industry, and the owner of one of the largest commercial fishing businesses in the U.S., smuggle the profits of his illegal overfishing scheme to Portugal. Jamie Melo, 46, of North Dartmouth, Mass., was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States and one count of structuring the export of monetary instruments. U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper scheduled sentencing for Oct. 24, 2018. The jury acquitted the defendant of one count of bulk cash smuggling. >click to read<22:30

Injunction sought against lobster buoy lines

On Friday, Richard Maximus Strahan filed the emergency motion in U.S. District Court for a temporary restraining order to stop either the licensing or deploying of vertical bouy lines, arguing they routinely entangle the endangered whales, causing serious injury and death. The restraining order should be in effect until marine fisheries officials and the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association could show there are no more right whales, a migratory species, in the states coastal waters, according to the motion. >click to read< 08:58

Fishing company to pay $400,000 penalty following 4,200 gallon fuel spill into New Bedford Harbor

In August of 2017, the Challenge, a fishing boat owned by the New Bedford company Quinn Fisheries, sunk while docked on the city’s waterfront, causing a fuel spill that spread over a mile and killed at least five ducks. The Coast Guard and the U.S. Department of Justice launched an inquiry, and found that the ship sunk when its captain failed to shut off a valve after illegally dumping bilge into the harbor and leaving the boat for the day, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court >click to read< 22:30

August 16, 2017 – Fishing vessel sinks in New Bedford Harbor >click to read<

D.B. Pleschner: Is court the right place to determine ‘best available science’?

A U.S. District Court judge recently ruled that the federal government’s catch limit for California’s central stock of anchovy — currently 25,000 metric tons — is far too high. But instead of weighing all the facts, the judge ignored them, shunned the established precedent of deference to federal agencies’ scientific determinations and instead endorsed the flawed arguments of the advocacy group Oceana. So what happened? >click to read< 21:55

Maine men sentenced to probation, fines for trafficking baby eels

Two Maine men were sentenced Thursday to serve federal probation and to pay fines for their roles in an interstate baby eel trafficking ring. Michael Squillace, 40, of Woolwich, and John Pinkham, 51, of Bath, each pleaded guilty last summer to trafficking in hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of illegally harvested baby eels, or elvers. They are among 19 men charged in federal court in three different states with illegally catching, selling and transporting more,,, >click to read< 21:00

New York businessman set to be sentenced for dealing in black market eels from Virginia

Tommy Zhou knew what they were doing was illegal, according to court documents. American eel stocks were low as Asian markets rushed to buy more, and strict caps were being imposed on U.S. fishermen. But Zhou told the undercover police officers who came to his New York office in 2013 that selling him black market eels wouldn’t be a problem as long as no one developed a “big mouth.” And, he said, he was willing to spend $200,000 to have them killed if they betrayed him. Zhou, of New York, pleaded guilty earlier this year to illegally trafficking more than $150,000 worth of juvenile American eels, also known as “elvers” or “glass eels.” He is set to be sentenced this afternoon in U.S. District Court. click here to read the story 10:59

Fisherman David Goethel: Justices ruled on technicalities, not merits

The rejection by the Supreme Court is the third defeat suffered by Goethel and co-plaintiff South Dartmouth-based Northeast Fishing Sector XIII since they first sued NOAA Fisheries and other federal officials in December 2015 in U.S. District Court in New Hampshire.,,, “The Supreme Court was our last judicial hope to save the centuries-old New England industry,” Goethel said in a statement. Later, in an interview, Goethel let loose against what he said is the “stacked deck” of standing up to regulators, as well as his frustration with the justice system. click here to read the story 20:56

Jury clears fish broker in alleged tuna smuggling scheme

A Marblehead tuna broker has been cleared of federal charges  that he orchestrated a scheme to illegally catch and export bluefin tuna. Robert Kliss and his Lynn-based business North Atlantic Traders were found not guilty of charges that included conspiracy, smuggling and falsifying records, by a U.S. District Court jury on Friday. Kliss, his business and a captain-for-hire, John Cafiero, were indicted in April following a four-year investigation by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and federal prosecutors. The allegations came to the attention of investigators in 2012, after a member of the crew on the famous fishing boat the F/V Hannah Boden came back from a swordfishing trip off the coast of Long Island, New York, and reported to the boat’s manager that Cafiero had also been fishing for bluefin. click here to read the story 21:17

Judge strips $2.8M tournament prize from Fla. fisherman

A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that a Florida fisherman is not entitled to the $2.8 million in prize money he won in a Maryland fishing tournament last summer. Phillip Heasley and the crew of his Naples, Fla.-based boat, the Kallianassa, put their fishing lines in too early, violating the rules of the White Marlin Open in Ocean City, Md., the judge ruled. Three New Jersey men – Trenton police sergeant Brian Suschke, Trenton firefighter Rich Kosztyu and Ocean County boat owner Damien Romeo – could land $2.3 million of the money, but the judge’s decision did not yet rule on the awarding of the money. Because the matter is still technically pending, with a decision expected on the money, Suschke declined further comment, except to say the three men are “happy to have cleared one legal hurdle.” click here to read the story 09:49

Trial begins to settle $2.8M fishing tourney prize

It started in the open ocean off Maryland last summer and it’s likely to conclude in a federal courtroom in Baltimore. The battle over $2.8 million in prize money from the White Marlin Open fishing tournament went to trial Monday in U.S. District Court. On the line for three New Jersey men is $2.3 million of the pot.Trenton police officer Brian Suschke, Trenton firefighter Rich Kosztyu and Ocean County boat owner Damien Romeo were ecstatic after winning $767,091 for catching a 236.5-pound tuna at the August competition in Ocean City, Md. Then, the friends and fishing partners found out their catch might actually be worth millions. Click here to read the story 17:44

Two guys who tried to sink their own commercial charter fishing boat get probation

Two men who intentionally tried to sink their commercial fishing boat in an effort to collect insurance money were sentenced to probation Monday. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Anello sentenced Christopher Switzer, 39, and Mark Gillette, 37, to 18 months of probation. Both pleaded guilty in February to conspiring to sink their commercial fishing boat, “The Commander.” The incident occurred on Oct. 11 when the two were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard from the sinking boat in an area about seven miles south of Dana Point. Gillette had reported the boat was taking on water and was in danger of sinking. It did not, however. continue reading the story here 10:45

Fishing Industry Fights N.Y. Offshore Wind Area In Court

Lawyers representing a host of fishing communities, associations and businesses – led by scallop industry trade group the Fisheries Survival Fund – argued in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., yesterday against an offshore wind lease sale off the coast of Long Island, N.Y. A ruling is expected in the coming days, according to a press release from the Fisheries Survival Fund. The plaintiffs are seeking a preliminary injunction against the wind farm lease that the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) preliminarily awarded to Statoil for $42.5 million at an auction in December. They argued that the site of the project is in the middle of important fishing grounds, particularly for the scallop and squid fisheries. They also claimed that allowing the “unlawful” lease sale to go through would cause “irreparable harm to commercial fishermen.” Read the story here 07:31

2 Plead Guilty to Sinking 54-Foot Fishing Boat to Collect Insurance

Two men pleaded guilty in San Diego Wednesday to conspiring to destroy their own vessel, a 57-foot boat used for charter sport-fishing trips, in order to fraudulently collect an insurance payout. Christopher Switzer, 39, and Mark Gillette, 37, each face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when they are sentenced March 6 in U.S. District Court. They are required to reimburse the U.S. Coast Guard more than $15,000 for the price of launching a rescue helicopter and other costs. Last Oct. 11, the defendants headed out to sea on their boat, the Commander, from its homeport in Mission Bay and went toward Long Beach. Switzer and Gillette had planned to intentionally sink the Commander and submit a claim to their insurance company, according to Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Ari D. Fitzwater. The defendants admitted they attempted to sink their boat by destroying plastic PVC piping in the engine room, which caused sea water to flood into the vessel. They also pumped sea water onto the vessel and punctured its bulkhead to let sea water spread faster throughout the boat. Read the full story here 20:08