Fishermen to be repaid $600,000 in fines

Nearly $650,000 in fines will be returned to commercial fishermen and seafood dealers in the Northeast, federal officials said Tuesday.

The decision follows an independent review of 30 cases that concluded fisheries enforcement overstepped "the bounds of propriety and fairness" in 11 instances. The 30 cases were mostly in New England, with two from New York. Another 80 complaints are under review.

The announcement that $649,527 in penalties would be returned was the latest in an ongoing enforcement shake-up at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. An independent investigation found that agency lawyers and enforcement officers abused their power in prosecuting fishermen and dealers in the past decade.

Fishermen in the Northeast have long said they faced unfair fines and prosecutions, and were often pressured into costly settlements with NOAA.

"We've made sweeping reforms," Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said Tuesday. "For those fishermen who were wrongly fined or sanctioned, we will issue refunds to them."

Mark Agger, of Agger Fish Co. in Brooklyn, will get $160,692.

Agger had said he was coerced into a $750,000 settlement with NOAA over a lapsed shark product permit because the proposed penalty was excessive. Agger could not be reached for comment."It was a long, hard battle, but well worth the fight," said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who advocated on the issue.He also brokered a meeting last summer on the East End between commercial fishermen and NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco.