Owner of Japanese Fishing Vessel Pleads Guilty to Unlawful Trafficking of Shark Fins Sentenced to Largest Monetary Penalty Ever Imposed in Federal Shark Finning Case
Hamada Suisan Co. Ltd., the owner of the Japanese-flagged fishing vessel, M.V. Kyoshin Maru No. 20, pleaded guilty, pursuant to a plea agreement, to aiding and abetting the attempted export of shark fins out of Hawaii in violation of the Lacey Act, the Department of Justice announced.
The company was sentenced to pay a fine of $126,000, forfeiture of $119,000 (representing the value of the vessel), and a period of probation of three years. This sentence represents the largest monetary penalty ever imposed for a federal shark finning case. During the three-year probation period, the company must comply with a robust compliance plan developed in coordination with the Department of Justice and supervised by the probation officer. The company must also retire and relinquish the fishing license in Japan previously associated with the Kyoshin Maru.
“Shark finning is a cruel practice, prohibited by federal law, numerous states, including Hawaii, and multilateral bodies to which both the United States and Japan belong,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jonathan D. Brightbill for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “The sentence imposed today, and Japan’s related actions holding this Japanese company to account, reflects the seriousness of these offenses and the United States’ and international commitment to ending this practice.”
“Shark finning is inhumane, intolerable, and takes a very real toll on our precious ocean ecosystem,” said U.S. Attorney Kenji M. Price for the District of Hawaii. “My office is committed to combatting this cruel practice by prosecuting to the fullest extent of the law anyone found to be trafficking in these types of shark fins.”
According to court documents, the case arose from the November 2018 discovery of approximately 962 shark fins, weighing approximately 190 pounds, from the checked luggage of fisherman working aboard the Kyoshin Maru. The Kyoshin Maru had engaged in longline tuna fishing in the southern Pacific Ocean for approximately one year prior, utilizing a crew of officers who were Japanese nationals and fishermen who were Indonesian nationals. When sharks were caught as bycatch by the Kyoshin Maru, the fishing master of the vessel directed the crew members to haul the shark into the vessel and kill the shark, instead of cutting the line and letting the shark swim free, in order to save the hook. The crew members followed this instruction, though at times they cut the line when the fishing master was not looking, in order to avoid the danger of handling a live shark. The fishermen dried the shark fins without the corresponding shark carcasses, in plain view of the captain and crew. The captain and the fishing master personally observed the shark finning that took place on the vessel, and did nothing to stop it. In the course of the voyage, crew members harvested fins from approximately 300 sharks.
On or about Nov. 6, 2018, the Kyoshin Maru traveled near Hawaii, and its Indonesian crew members legally entered the United States in order to board return flights departing from Honolulu International Airport. During routine screening, Transportation Security Administration officers discovered the shark fins in 10 of the fishermen’s checked luggage. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) seized the shark fins, which it later determined were worth as much as $57,850 on the black market.
Some of the shark fins were from oceanic whitetip sharks, which are listed as threatened species under the Endangered Species Act and are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), an international convention with over 180 parties, including the United States, Japan, and Indonesia. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the oceanic whitetip shark has declined by approximately 80-95 percent across the Pacific Ocean since the mid-1990s. Other fins were from silky sharks and bigeye thresher sharks, which are also protected under the CITES.
The 10 Indonesian nationals with shark fins in their luggage were arrested and eventually pled guilty to a violation of the Lacey Act in United States v. Abdurahman et al., Cr. No. 18-00192 KJM.
The Japan Fisheries Agency, which is the government agency in Japan responsible for enforcement of Japan’s shark finning laws, conducted a parallel investigation. On March 27, 2019, Japan found a violation of Japan’s shark finning ordinances, and imposed an administrative penalty upon the Kyoshin Maru, specifically a “stoppage” that prohibited the vessel from operating for a period of 67 days, and also prohibited maintenance or repairs during the stoppage period. The Kyoshin Maru did not operate and remained at port from the time it arrived in Japan after dropping off the fishermen in Honolulu, until the time it was eventually sold – a period of approximately eight months, during which the vessel deteriorated. The parties stipulated that $119,000 in substitute assets is appropriate in lieu of forfeiture of the Kyoshin Maru, which is now beyond the control of the defendants.
The possession and sale of shark fins are regulated by several international treaties, to which both Japan and the United States are parties. These treaties obligate member nations to pass domestic laws prohibiting the retention onboard of any part of certain protected shark species, including oceanic whitetip sharks and silky sharks; and to require shark fins to comprise no more than 5 percent of the weight of sharks on board, among other requirements. Japan and the United States have passed domestic laws that implement these treaty obligations by restricting the shark fin trade. The State of Hawaii goes beyond these treaty obligations and completely bans the shark fin trade. It is unlawful to possess, sell, offer for sale, trade, or distribute shark fins in Hawaii, and Hawaii was the first state to impose an outright ban on the shark fin trade.
This case was investigated by the FWS, Office of Law Enforcement, with assistance from NOAA, Office of Law Enforcement; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the U.S. Coast Guard. It was prosecuted by Senior Counsel for Wildlife Programs Elinor Colbourn of the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Environmental Crimes Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc A. Wallenstein for the District of Hawaii. The prosecution team coordinated with the U.S. Department of State on this matter.
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October 9, 2020, published on DOJ website
Image by Wolfgang Orthgieß from Pixabay
