The US Department of Justice and a seafood processor have 
entered into a consent judgment in a civil forfeiture 
action involving the seizure of 112 tonnes of Russian king 
crab the US Government believes were imported illegally. 

The crab was sold in July 2011 for about USD 2.5 million. 
The US Government will forfeit and keep approximately USD 
2.1 million of the proceeds and New York-based Harbor 
Seafood, Inc will receive USD 300,000 of the proceeds.  

Further, the consent judgment will require Harbor Seafood 
to undertake a compliance review and offer its employees 
training about the laws that govern the import of seafood.

“International trade involving illegal seafood products is 
a widespread problem that threatens the integrity of our 
food supply and undermines efforts to protect valuable 
natural resources,” said US Attorney Jenny A Durkan. “The 
financial loss to the importer in this case should put all 
seafood importers on notice that they need to ensure that 
the products they import are legally harvested and 
imported.”

The consent judgment filed in US District Court in Seattle 
indicates that the crab was seized after Harbor Seafood 
attempted to import it through the Port of Seattle in 
eight shipments during December 2010 and January 2011.  
The government alleges that Harbor Seafood imported the 
crab illegally because the crab was harvested from Russian 
waters in violation of Russian quotas, was not marked in 
accordance with regulations implemented by the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) pursuant to 
the Lacey Act and lacked information required by the 
reporting regulations implemented by the Food and Drug 
Administration (FDA).

The importation of seafood products that are harvested in 
violation of foreign law is illegal under the Lacey Act.
 
Under the settlement, Harbor Seafood does not admit 
wrongdoing but has agreed to undertake a compliance review 
and provide remedial training to its employees. The firm 
handles 40-50 million lb of seafood annually and is 
reportedly the 20th largest seafood company in the US. 

“Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing is a global 
challenge, and this case is an example of international 
cooperation producing tangible results,” said Vicki 
Nomura, special agent in charge of NOAA's Office of Law 
Enforcement's Northwest Division. “This kind of illegal 
activity threatens the long-term sustainability of the 
Russian