William Sheldon, 71, of Woolwich, Maine, and Timothy Lewis,
46, of Phippsburg, Maine, were each indicted in Portland, Maine, with crimes
related to illegally trafficking juvenile American eels, also known as “elvers”
or “glass eels.” A seven-count indictment was returned on March 1, charging
Sheldon with conspiracy to smuggle elvers and violate the Lacey Act. A
two-count indictment was returned on March 29, charging Lewis with conspiracy
to traffic elvers and violate the Lacey Act. Sheldon was arraigned today in
U.S. District Court in Portland. An arraignment for Lewis will be scheduled in
the future.
The indictments were announced today by Acting Assistant
Attorney General Jeffrey H. Wood for the Justice Department’s Environment and
Natural Resources Division and Acting Director Jim Kurth of the USFWS.
These indictments were the result of “Operation Broken
Glass,” a multi-jurisdiction U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
investigation into the illegal trafficking of American eels. To date, the investigation
has resulted in these two indictments, as well as guilty pleas for eleven
individuals in Maine, Virginia and South Carolina. These eleven defendants
combined have admitted to illegally trafficking more than $2.75 million worth
of elvers.
Eels are highly valued in east Asia for human consumption.
Historically, Japanese and European eels were harvested to meet this demand;
however, overfishing has led to a decline in the population of these eels. As a
result, harvesters have turned to the American eel to fill the void resulting
from the decreased number of Japanese and European eels.
American eels spawn in the Sargasso Sea, an area of the
North Atlantic Ocean bounded on all sides by ocean currents. They then travel
as larvae from the Sargasso to the coastal waters of the eastern U.S., where
they enter a juvenile or elver stage, swim upriver and grow to adulthood in
fresh water. Elvers are exported for aquaculture in east Asia, where they are
raised to adult size and sold for food. Harvesters and exporters of American
eels in the U.S. can sell elvers to east Asia for more than $2000 per pound.
Because of the threat of overfishing, elver harvesting is
prohibited in the U.S. in all but two states: Maine and South Carolina. Maine
and South Carolina heavily regulate elver fisheries, requiring that individuals
be licensed and report all quantities of harvested eels to state authorities.
The offense in this case is a felony under the Lacey Act,
each carrying a maximum penalty of five years’ incarceration, a fine of up to
$250,000 or up to twice the gross pecuniary gain or loss, or both.
Operation Broken Glass was conducted by the USFWS and the
Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section in collaboration with the
Maine Marine Patrol, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Law
Enforcement Division, New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife Bureau of Law
Enforcement, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Conservation Police, Virginia Marine Resources Commission Police, USFWS Refuge
Law Enforcement, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Law
Enforcement, Massachusetts Environmental Police, Rhode Island Department of
Environmental Management Division of Law Enforcement, New York State Environmental
Conservation Police, New Hampshire Fish and Game Division of Law Enforcement,
Maryland Natural Resources Police, North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission
Division of Law Enforcement, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission,
Yarmouth, Massachusetts Division of Natural Resources, North Myrtle Beach,
South Carolina Police Department and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries
Commission.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has
committed a violation of criminal laws and every defendant is presumed innocent
until, and unless, proven guilty.
The government is represented by Environmental Crimes
Section Trial Attorneys Cassandra Barnum and Shane Waller of the U.S.
Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.
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