Rockland crew sentenced in illegal sale of 2.5M pounds of herring

Nine men have pleaded guilty and been sentenced in connection with a scheme that illegally sold millions pounds of Atlantic herring that were caught by a Rockland fishing vessel.

Between 2016 and 2019, fishermen associated with the Western Sea vessel submitted at least 84 false trip reports to the federal government, and they sold Atlantic herring to purchasers who paid via check or cash, some of whom were not federally permitted dealers, according to the office of U.S. Attorney Darcie McElwee.

The office said that crew members received money from the illegal transactions at the end of each week. Some of the sales were of unreported herring, in which the vessel caught more than its allotted amount. The Western Sea also issued inaccurate 1099 tax forms to its crew members that failed to report all of their income.

The total amount of Atlantic herring that was illegally sold totaled 2.5 million pounds, according to an indictment that was originally issued in 2022.

The nine people who have now pleaded guilty to involvement in the scheme included the owner and captain of the Western Sea, Glen Robbins, 77, of Eliot, who on Thursday was sentenced to two years of probation and will pay a $25,000 fine. That’s on top of a $175,000 fine that must be paid for the vessel.

Some purchasers of the Atlantic herring were also sentenced, including New Moon Fisheries in Friendship and the owner of Sam’s Seafood in Cushing. Other fines and restitution payments varied from $1,000 to $42,834.93, according to court documents. All but one of the men charged were from Maine.

Atlantic herring is an overfished species that is used as the primary bait for Maine’s lobster industry, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. Fishing them is highly regulated, and NOAA sets quotas and catch limits for them. Vessels must complete reports after each trip that include the weight of the catch and the dealers to whom the catch is sold.