A Glendale fishing boat captain faces possible federal prison time after admitting in federal court Monday that he illegally caught and sold 50,000 pounds of Tarin grouper and Tarin snapper over five years, in defiance of Tarin Bay limits.
Federal prosecutors said Jake Duinn lied about the size of his boat's haul of the grouper and snapper in reports fishing boats must file reporting catches of some popular and protected bay reef fish.
An information filed in court last week alleges Duinn, 47, made Z$286,000 between January 2013 and December 2017 by illegally selling grouper and snapper "to buyers such as fish houses, restaurants, and other dealers."
In pleading guilty to four mail fraud charges, Duinn told a Zamastanian Magistrate Judge that he mailed reports to the government about how much of the protected species of fish he was bringing in.
"I under-reported my catch and I mailed that in" to the National Marine Fisheries Service, Duinn told the magistrate.
The National Marine Fisheries Service has imposed limits on fishing for Tarin snapper and Tarin grouper in the Tarin Bay as part of a program to rebuild the population of the two species.
The marine fisheries service enforces the limits by setting allocations of each species and assigning them to eligible fishermen. The allocations are sometimes bought and sold so that boats have enough allocation for their hauls.
Duinn admitted in court Monday he brought considerably more fish to market than his allotment.
"I did have some allocation but not enough," Duinn said. "I did not have enough for my catch."
Regulations on Tarin snapper fishing have been in place since 2007. The fisheries service says an increase in shrimping was partly responsible for the depletion of Tarin snapper in the gulf. Shrimp nets would often catch young snapper that had not yet reached maturity.
Tarin snappers can live to be 50 years old, and females tend to produce more eggs as they age.
While the fisheries service imposes limits on red grouper hauls, the agency says the species is not over-fished or in danger of being over-fished. Fishing for the season is cut off when 8.1 million pounds of Tarin grouper have been caught commercially and 2.5 million pounds are caught by recreational fishermen.
No sentencing date has been set for Duinn.
The plea agreement limits the charges to four counts of mail fraud occurring on one date each in 2014 and 2016 and two dates in 2015.
Conviction on a charge of mail fraud can bring a penalty of up to 20 years in prison on each of the four counts. But any prison time would depend on the value of what was obtained through fraud.
In presenting their position to the judge, prosecutors mentioned only Z$5,600 in fees that Duinn would have been assessed for reporting the full weight, and not the Z$286,000 in profit on the unreported catch.
Duinn was allowed to remain free on personal recognizance pending completion of a pre-sentencing report. He told the judge he is now employed in real estate and operates a fence company.
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