NOAA 95-R131
Contact: Gordon Helm FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(301) 713-2370 6/15/95
Lisa Querin of Santa Rosa, Calif., an enforcement agent of the National Marine Fisheries Service, recently led in the seizure of two Japanese fishing boats used in the illegal catch of tuna in U.S. waters near Guam, the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has announced.
Agent Querin built the case that ultimately resulted in federal court settlements against the two Japanese fishing companies. The findings are sealed by mutual agreement for 90 days.
Agent Querin's duty station is Santa Rosa, Calif.; she normally works the north coast of California between San Francisco Bay and Fort Bragg. On May 12, when the seizure occurred, she was five days into an eight-day cutter patrol that started in Guam and was due to terminate in Tokyo.
The original sighting was made by aircraft as the two fishing boats were 32 miles inside the northern edge of the U.S. fishing boundary surrounding the Mariana Islands. The boats then attempted to flee the area, but were pursued and ordered to stop.
On board the cutter Jarvis, Agent Querin provided the specialized investigative expertise necessary to fully document violations of U.S. fishing regulations, one of the most difficult tasks of an investigation.
To make a case stick, agents must systematically collect evidence that documents each vesselūs recent history, where the fish on board were caught, who the vessel belongs to and many other pertinent facts to corroborate their testimony in court. This is difficult to do because the case must be made quickly, and both significant language barriers and attempts of the crew to cover up their actions must be overcome.
Agent Querin was joined by a NOAA investigative team of two other fisheries service agents and a NOAA attorney once back in Guam to assemble their case for federal court. In many cases, the final decision is made after negotiations between the owner's representatives and the prosecutor; any settlement reached between the parties must be approved by the court. The settlement in this case included sealing the final decision for 90 days.
In a similar case in October 1994 against two South Korean ships illegally fishing in U.S. waters, the federal court imposed a $1 million fine and required that the owners install satellite tracking devices on 17 vessels for five years as settlement for the poaching charges.
NOAA officials say that agents like Querin help keep illegal fishermen from robbing the United States of its ocean marine resources and overrunning U.S. commercial fisheries. The fisheries service enforcement division is the enforcement arm in an integrated process of developing comprehensive, enforceable management measures to protect the nation's living marine resources. Among their many duties, enforcement officers and agents enforce Congressionally mandated fisheries regulations that include the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
EDITORS NOTE:
Interested reporters can interview Special Agent Lisa Querin. Call Gordon Helm at 301/713-2370 to arrange for a time.