tuna on the deck of a Pacific fishing vessel Photo: Giff Johnson
A US based tuna fishing company has been convicted and given a $US1.6 million fine for dumping oil waste in the waters off American Samoa.
The Ship&Bunker online news reported the US department of Justice says Pacific Breeze Fisheries LLC had also kept false records in relation to its vessel Pacific Breeze.
The company admitted that between October 2013 and July 2015, senior engineers did not keep accurate records of the dumping of oil waste.
Pacific Breeze Fisheries has also been ordered to pay $US400,000 to the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa.
On October 25th a former chief engineer of the Pacific Breeze, Jeon Seon Han, pleaded guilty in the District of Hawaii to obstructing the U.S. Coast Guard inspection of the vessel in 2015.
He admitted to have lied to USCG inspectors about the disposal of sludge and to ordering the disassembly of an illegal discharge system prior to inspection.
Han is scheduled to be sentenced in February 2017.