Alleged Chilean Sea Bass Poacher Indicted

MIAMI, Florida , September 29, 2005 (ENS) - On Tuesday, Antonio Vidal Pego, a Spanish national, and Fadilur S.A., a Uruguayan corporation, were indicted by a federal grand jury in Miami, Florida with importing and conspiring to sell approximately 53,000 pounds of illegally possessed toothfish, commonly known as Chilean sea bass. Both were also charged with false labeling and obstructing justice.

Vidal faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for the charge of obstruction of justice, and up to five years in prison on each of the three remaining charges. He is also subject to a fine of $250,000 or greater on each of the four counts. Fadilur, S.A. faces a maximum criminal fine, on each of the four counts naming the company, of up to $500,000 per charge.

Chilean sea bass, known scientifically as Patagonian or Antarctic toothfish, is neither from Chile nor a sea bass.

It became popular on restaurant menus about 10 years ago, and now the slow-growing, deep water fish suffers from acute over-fishing by poachers in the remote waters near Antarctica, and is on the verge of collapse.

Said Mark Stevens, campaign manager for Take a Pass on Chilean Sea Bass, "We congratulate NOAA on its vigilance in enforcing laws that protect Chilean Sea Bass. Vidal is a familiar name to those of us fighting pirate fishing and we look forward to his conviction."

Take a Pass on Chilean Sea Bass is a nationwide consumer education campaign designed to educate the public about the crisis facing Chilean Sea Bass. More than 1,000 chefs have pledged to stop serving Chilean Sea Bass until proper regulations are in place.

"Unfortunately," said Stevens, "53,000 pounds is just a drop in the bucket compared to all the illegal fish that makes its way on to people's plates every day. Chilean sea bass is just the poster fish for all the other ocean fish being hammered by pirate fishers."

"Simple and secure solutions exist, such as web-based documentation which would prevent forgery," said Stevens.

The harvest and trade of Chilean seabass is regulated under the international Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, implemented in the United States through the Antarctic Marine Living Resources Act.

The treaty and implementing laws, set forth in detail in the Indictment, require specific documentation to follow legally harvested toothfish from the point of harvest to the point of final import for consumption.

Getting the fishing vessels to stop taking toothfish is a separate challenge. Stevens says the ship named in this indictment, along with many others, is still fishing illegally for Chilean sea bass.