Department of Commerce
NOAA Fisheries
- Office for Law Enforcement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 2, 2005

$20,000 PENALTY LEVIED AGAINST HALIBUT FISHERMAN

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has charged Christine Swanson, a resident of Sitka, Alaska, with a $20,000 civil penalty for multiple fishing violations regarding her Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) permit. NOAA is an agency of the Department of Commerce.

In November 2002, Swanson submitted two IFQ Halibut landing reports to NOAA Fisheries Service. The agency’s Office for Law Enforcement received an anonymous letter, which revealed that Swanson did not participate in the actual harvest of the IFQ halibut claimed on these reports. Subsequent investigation also revealed that she provided false information on her IFQ eligibility application.

An IFQ is a federal permit that allows the permit holder to exclusively harvest a specific quantity of a given fish. IFQs carefully limit the total pounds of halibut available for harvest each year and help keep the halibut fishery both sustainable and profitable.

Following an investigation by NOAA Special Agent Al Duncan, NOAA assessed a Notice of Violation and Assessment against Swanson for submitting two illegal IFQ halibut landing reports, providing false information on her IFQ eligibility application and making false statements to a federal Investigator during the course of an investigation.

Following a hearing in front of a federal administrative law judge, Swanson was found guilty on all counts and fined $20,000. Her IFQ permit was permanently voided.

“The privilege of participating in, and benefiting from the IFQ program in Alaska goes to a very limited number of people who must meet certain qualifying criteria,” Duncan said. “Therefore, it’s important for NOAA to ensure that those who want to be a part of the IFQ program truly qualify, and that those who participate in the IFQ program play by the rules.”

NOAA’s Fisheries Service stresses the importance of providing accurate information on IFQ landing reports and licensing applications. Reports of illegal fishing activities received from the public will be investigated and violators will be prosecuted. To report illegal fishing activities contact the NOAA Fisheries’ Enforcement Hot Line at 800-853-1964.

NOAA Fisheries Service is dedicated to protecting and preserving our nation’s living marine resources through scientific research, management, enforcement and the conservation of marine mammals and other protected marine species and their habitat.

NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of our nation’s coastal and marine resources.