ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Over $65,000 worth of pollock roe — or fish eggs — was seized by the Coast Guard last month after it uncovered federal fishing violations on an Alaska fishing boat.
On March 26, the crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Waesche boarded the catcher-processor ship Northern Eagle after a pre-boarding audit by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement revealed major discrepancies between the vessel’s production reports and electronic logbook.
It was confirmed through the logs that the vessel recorded less catch in its logbook than the vessel’s reported production weight, according to the Coast Guard press release.
The production weight exceeded its reported catch weight by 1,223 metric tons, equivalent to almost 2.7 million pounds.
The investigation also uncovered evidence from a previous voyage indicating the underreporting and offloading of approximately 12.4 metric tons of pollock roe, valued at an estimated $150,000…