68°
Feds say scheme involved established packing house
Federal agents swooped in after a grand jury returned a 15-count indictment charging the six and two related companies from New Jersey and Maryland with creating false reports and records of harvested oysters, trafficking in illegally harvested oysters, and obstruction of justice.
All but one of the defendants is also charged with conspiracy.
Among them, Thomas and Todd Reeves were oyster fishermen who owned Reeves Brothers, an oyster harvesting business that also employed a third defendant, Renee Reeves, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said. They brought another owner-operator, Kenneth W. Bailey, into the scheme, as well, Fishman said.
Together, they created bogus reports to fulfill state and federal requirements when, in fact, they harvested more than the law allowed – sometimes nearly twice the amount, he said.
Also named in the indictment is a business owner accused of under-reporting the hauls bought from the Reeves trio for sale to restaurants and others. The business, Harbor House Seafood, in Delaware, is one of the largest packing houses on the East Coast.
Federal law enforcers snatched 10 vessels the government says the alleged conspirators used in their racket.
U.S. Marshals are holding onto five of them, to “ensure that the vessels are available for forfeiture in the same condition that they presently are,” Fishman said. Prosecutors obtained restraining orders blocking the rest from being used.
Oyster prices have repeatedly fallen the past several years, prompting federal authorities to set limits on catches in order to level the playing field. They have to quit by 3 in the afternoon and can’t bring in more than a dozen bushels a day.
The watermen have been squeezed into smaller areas — mostly around Deal Island, where the Harbor House business is located — as a result of regulations aimed at increasing the oyster population by protecting more sanctuaries. In turn, competition has been intense among the watermen, as well as with importers who bring in smaller, cheaper oysters from out of state.
Watermen have struck in response to buyers — including Harbor House — dropping bushel prices. A bushel ordinarily fetches anywhere from $35 to $40.
Fishman said the case was investigated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office of Law Enforcement, and The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Fish and Wildlife. It is being prosecuted by Wayne D. Hettenbach of the Environmental Crimes Section of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew T. Smith of Fishman’s office.
Click here to follow Daily Voice South Passaic and receive free news updates.
