District of Columbia Seafood Company, Owner and Employee Plead Guilty to Federal Trafficking Charges

The U.S. Department of Justice reports in its press release (quotation, not an independent finding): “WASHINGTON—A fish wholesaler, its owner and an employee have all pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for the illegal purchase and sale of striped bass from the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River from 2003 through 2007, the Justice Department announced today. Cannon Seafood Inc., its owner and president Robert Moore Sr. of Falls Church, Va., and Robert Moore Jr. of Ashburn, Va., each pleaded guilty to one felony violation of the Lacey Act. The Act prohibits individuals or corporations from creating false records for fish, and from transporting, selling, or buying fish harvested illegally. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Cannon Seafood has agreed to pay a fine of $80,000 and pay $28,000 in restitution to the congressionally established National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). Moore Sr. has agreed to pay a $40,000 fine and pay $15,000 in restitution to the NFWF and Moore Jr. has agreed to pay a $30,000 fine and pay $10,000 in restitution to the same foundation. The court set a sentencing date of May 8, 2009, at 9:30 A.M. According to the plea agreement, from April 2003 until June 30, 2007, Moore Sr., Cannon’s majority owner and president and Moore Jr. bought striped bass from Thomas Hallock, a commercial fisherman from Maryland, and Jerry Decatur Sr. and Jerry Decatur Jr., two Virginia fisherman. The Moores knew that striped bass was regulated with various closed seasons and size limits and that Virginia and Maryland required all commercially harvested striped bass to have plastic tags affixed when they were caught. According to the ple”