Subject: Boundary line change may have affected crabbers detected in Russia<br/>
Date: Feb 12, 2003 @ 20:53<br/>
Author: John Seeliger (&quot;John Seeliger&quot; &lt;jseelige@...&gt;)<br/>
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Boundary line change may have affected crabbers detected in Russia<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
KODIAK (AP) -- A change in the 1867 maritime boundary line between the<br/>
United States and Russia may be the reason six Bering Sea crabbers were<br/>
detected fishing in Russian waters last week, according to federal<br/>
officials.<br/>
<br/>
The six vessels were ordered to port by the Coast Guard on behalf of the<br/>
National Marines Fisheries Service.<br/>
<br/>
The boundary line was moved as much as 14 miles east in 1991, one federal<br/>
officer estimated. Captains, using navigational programs linked to the<br/>
global positioning system, may have been plotting their positions from the<br/>
1867 line rather than the 1991 line.<br/>
<br/>
&#39;&#39;One possibility -- the software provider may have been at fault,&#39;&#39; Susan<br/>
Auer told the Kodiak Mirror on Thursday. Auer is senior enforcement attorney<br/>
for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.<br/>
<br/>
The six American vessels included the Alaskan Beauty of Kirkland, Wash.,<br/>
Fierce Allegiance of Edmonds, Wash., the Arctic Wind, Pacific Star, and<br/>
Ocean Olympic of Seattle and the Adventure of Petersburg.<br/>
<br/>
The boats were fishing in the Bering Sea during the opilio, or snow crab,<br/>
season that closed Saturday.<br/>
<br/>
The Adventure was ordered to St. Paul in the Pribilof Islands. Auer<br/>
indicated that crab from that boat may not be seized.<br/>
<br/>
&#39;&#39;Little if any of the crab from the Adventure was taken from Russian<br/>
waters,&#39;&#39; Auer said.<br/>
<br/>
The portion of the catch seized will depend on how much crab federal<br/>
officials believe came from Russian waters.<br/>
<br/>
NMFS hopes to finish investigations by the end of next week, an officer<br/>
said.<br/>
<br/>
The five other boats were being offloaded in Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian<br/>
Islands.<br/>
<br/>
A National Marine Fisheries Service spokesman said last week that the crab<br/>
would be sold and proceeds held until investigations of the possible<br/>
violations are completed. According to NMFS, an administrative law judge<br/>
could impose forfeiture of the catch and the forfeiture could then be<br/>
contested in Federal District Court.<br/>
<br/>
The Coast Guard enforces the Lacey Act, which makes it illegal to import or<br/>
acquire fish taken in violation of a U.S. treaty or foreign law.</div>