Authorities abruptly release seized Russian trawler

UNITED STATES

Monday, September 16, 2002, 21:00 (GMT + 9)

US authorities have released a seized Russian factory trawler accused of fishing illegally on the Alaska side of the Bering Sea (see World News, 10 September). The release is highly unusual and unexpected. An attorney representing the trawler's owner said federal prosecutors felt the Coast Guard made procedural errors in capturing the vessel, prompting an end to court efforts seeking forfeiture of the vessel and its catch.

"I think it was the right decision the government made," said Dan Harris, the Seattle attorney for the 344-foot trawler Viytna. The ship is owned by ZAO Korsakov Tralflot of Sakhalin Island, he said.

The company now believes the US government should pay for several days of lost fishing time, as well as for the costs of hiring an attorney and docking in a US port, Harris said.

He added that the case could spark a legal challenge to the validity of the Maritime Boundary Line separating Russian and American waters. In recent months, some Russian politicians have reasserted complaints that the line, never ratified by the Russian parliament, cheats Russia out of large quantities of pollock and other fish.

US Attorney Tim Burgess in Anchorage refused to say exactly why his office moved to dismiss the case against the Viytna. "There's insufficient grounds for us to proceed," he said, declining to elaborate further. A Coast Guard spokeswoman likewise declined to say much about the case.

The trawler sailed Friday from Dutch Harbor, where it was escorted by the Coast Guard. According to Harris, the ship had to be towed much of the way to Dutch because the angry Russian skipper refused to operate the vessel.

On Sept. 9, federal prosecutors filed a complaint in US District Court in Anchorage for forfeiture of the Viytna and 71 metric tons of processed fish.

According to the complaint, a Coast Guard C-130 patrol plane spotted the Viytna on Sept. 4 trawling 766 yards inside the US Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The C-130 crew ordered the trawler to stop and prepare for boarding, but it continued to fish and headed for Russian waters, the complaint said.

The ship finally hauled in its nets and speeded up. The Coast Guard cutter Rush headed to the area and launched a chase helicopter.

The cutter crew then warned the trawler that force would be used. The trawler made several course and speed changes to avoid the cutter's attempt to deploy lines to foul the Viytna's propellers, the complaint said. It finally stopped and a Coast Guard team boarded the trawler and then took it to Dutch Harbor.

The complaint levelled four counts against the Viytna, including unlawful fishing and refusing to allow the Coast Guard to board.

According to Harris, prosecutors dropped the case because the Coast Guard gave incorrect verbal commands to the trawler captain, leading him to believe that he would not be prosecuted if he simply stopped fishing and went back into Russian waters. Harris added, however, that he was not prepared to concede that the ship was even in US waters.

Before deciding to drop the case, prosecutors had sought to fine the ship's owner USD 750,000, Harris said.

The Bering Sea dividing line was redrawn in 1990 after negotiations between the former Soviet Union and the United States. US officials ratified the line but the Soviets never did, and the Russians have carped for years that it unfairly gave the Americans too much valuable fishing territory.

"They feel that 10 miles of maybe the best fishing grounds in the entire world were taken from them," Harris said.

Despite the diplomatic rift, the Coast Guard and its counterpart, the Russian Federal Border Service, have worked together to stop poaching along the dividing line, chasing or seizing a handful of vessels each year. Vessels flying Russian, Chinese, Korean and other flags heavily fish the line on the Russian side each summer and fall. US fishery biologists say they are netting fish migrating west from the US side.

Burgess said that even though the case against the Viytna will be dropped, "that doesn't mean the investigation is not proceeding." The Coast Guard routinely reports suspected violators to Russian authorities, who possibly could take action against the Viytna.

By Welsey Loy

FIS North America