Mississippi man pleads guilty to illegally taking endangered smalltooth sawfish

A Mississippi man pleaded guilty to violating the Endangered Species Act by severing the rostrum of a smalltooth sawfish, an endangered species, while on board a shrimp boat off the Florida Keys.

Hong Thanh Nguyen, 62, of Ocean Springs, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Gulfport and was sentenced to one year of probation. Nguyen’s guilty plea followed the transfer of the charge filed in the Southern District of Florida to the Southern District of Mississippi.

According to court documents, in February 2022, Nguyen was aboard a commercial vessel, the Miss Theresa, near Key West in Monroe County, Florida, when the smalltooth sawfish became entangled in the boat’s fishing net. Nguyen severed the rostrum of the sawfish from its body with a knife, which he knew to be unlawful.

U.S. Attorney Todd W. Gee of the Southern District of Mississippi made the announcement.

The case was investigated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Law Enforcement, which is part of NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gaines Cleveland prosecuted the case in the Southern District of Mississippi.