Five Maryland Commercial Fishermen Plead Guilty to Illegally Overfishing Striped Bass

WASHINGTON—Five St. Mary’s County, Md., commercial fisherman pleaded guilty today to illegally overfishing striped bass also known as rockfish, the Justice Department announced. “Fishing limits in the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River are designed to protect the healthy sustainable population of striped bass and ensure a viable fishery up and down the eastern seaboard. Commercial fishermen who knowingly conceal their illegal activities, and who traffic in illegally harvested rockfish are undercutting an honest market and risking the continuation of the species,” said John C. Cruden, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “Most rockfish return from the Atlantic Ocean to the freshwater of the Chesapeake Bay to spawn,” said Rod J. Rosenstein, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland. “If commercial fishermen obey the rules, we can all enjoy rockfish forever. If we allow overfishing, the rockfish population could be wiped out very quickly.” According to their plea agreements, Thomas L. Crowder Jr. of Leonardtown, Md.; John W. Dean of Scotland, Md.; Charles Quade of Churchtown, Md.; Thomas L. Hallock of Catharpin, Va.; and Keith A. Collins of Deale, Md., are all commercial fisherman operating in or near St. Mary’s County, Md., and the surrounding waters of the Chesapeake Bay. As commercial fishermen in Maryland, they were each subject to a maximum quota in pounds of striped bass that they were allowed to harvest in a year and were also required to record each day’s harvest of striped bass on a permit allocation card issued by the state of Maryland. Each day’s harvest and its corresponding entry on the permit allocation were required to be verified by a Maryland designated check-in station. All striped bass caught by the defendants were required to be “tagged” with a plastic tag issued by the state. In addition to catching striped bass to fulfill their own quota, each defendant also entered into agreements to utilize the quota issued to other Maryland striped bass fishermen. According to their statements of fact, from 2003 to 2007, Crowder, Dean, Quade, Hallock and Collins, with the help and assistance of a Maryland designated check-in station, falsely recorded the amount of striped bass that each harvested. In each year, the defendants failed to record some of the striped bass they caught. In addition, in each year the defendants recorded, and the check-in station certified on their Maryland permit allocation cards a lower weight of striped bass than was actually caught. The defendants and the check-in station operator would also falsely inflate on these records the actual number of fish harvested. By under-reporting the weight of fish harvested, and over-reporting the number of fish taken, the records would make it appear that the defendants had failed to reach the maximum poundage quota for the year, but had nonetheless run out of tags. As a result, the state would issue additional tags that could be used by the defendants allowing them to catch striped bass above their maximum poundage quota amount, yet still have tags to place on those fish and fish that were never reported to Maryland as being harvested. In addition, Hallock, Quade, Dean and Collins falsely tagged striped bass, hiding the manner or location where they were caught. Hallock also fished out of season. According to their plea agreements, Quade and Hallock further concealed the striped bass over-harvesting and under-reporting by having seafood wholesalers provide false receipts for their striped bass sales, claiming that the sales involved different species of fish. Crowder, Dean, Quade, Hallock and Collins sold their illegal catch knowing that the fish would be sold to retail and wholesellers in other states. According to their plea agreements, the estimated fair market value of the fish involved in the illegal transactions for Crowder is $956,285; for Collins is between $600,000 and $750,000; fo