7 fishermen off the hook

After days of silence, the Department of Lands and Natural Resources declared that it would not press charges against seven persons who were reportedly caught fishing within the Bird Island Sanctuary.

In a prepared statement given to the Saipan Tribune, the DLNR acquitted the seven persons, saying that its conservation officers lacked conclusive evidence to positively identify any of the fishermen and their boat at the time when they were fishing within the sanctuary, where the law prohibits the taking of marine life.

The alleged failure to identify the culprits and their boat happened even as the DLNR also claimed that Fish and Wildlife conservation officers had observed the fishing activity at the sanctuary for about four hours—from 9pm until 1am the following morning two Sundays ago.

The DLNR said the conservation officers, who allegedly observed the illegal activity from the sanctuary’s public lookout point, proceeded to the Sugar Dock and Smiling Cove Marina at about 5am to wait for any vessel to arrive.

The DLNR’s statement did not name the seven fishermen. DLNR Secretary Richard Seman refused to be interviewed, amid unconfirmed reports that a ranking government official seeking reelection in the upcoming November polls had intervened in the case.

The department said conservation officers intercepted an 18-footer boat with six passengers at about 7:30am upon the vessel’s arrival at the Sugar Dock in Chalan Kanoa.

“[The] boat captain and fishermen were questioned and it was at that time that the conservation officers were able to determine that the vessel may had been the one fishing within the marine sanctuary,” the DLNR said. “The determination was primarily based on the conflicting oral statements of the fishermen.”

Conservation officers reportedly seized spear guns, snorkels and fins, fish boxes, flashlights, and a Toyota pickup truck. They also seized finfishes, lobsters and crabs, but the DLNR statement did not state the volume of the marine products. Reports reaching the Saipan Tribune said the fishermen harvested huge amounts of marine life, possibly over 100 pounds.

The DLNR said that Public Law 12-46 prohibits fishing within the Forbidden Island and Bird Island sanctuaries, and that violation of the law is a criminal act that entails a fine of $500 and/or imprisonment.

But the department acquitted the fishermen without pressing charges against them. It said no fisherman was placed under arrest “because the conservation officers lacked conclusive evidence to positively identify any of the fishermen and boat at the time and place of the violation and the fact that the conservation officers had no knowledge of the whereabouts of the boat and the fishermen from the time it left the sanctuary to the time it arrived at Sugar Dock.”

It said the matter was brought to the Attorney General’s Office, which reportedly concluded that the government does not have sufficient probable cause to initiate a court action.

“Based on the information gathered during questioning, the fishermen were fishing adjacent to the Bird Island sanctuary when they may have inadvertently encroached into it. They have no reference to base on whether they were encroaching the sanctuary or not because it was too dark and there was no marker buoy to indicate the boundary,” the DLNR said.

“Because of the absence of marker buoys and the total darkness of the area, the fishermen were not able to accurately determine their actual location and distances from the sanctuary,” it added.

The DLNR issued the statement after days of silence on the Bird Island bust. The Saipan Tribune has pressed the department for details of the incident since Wednesday last week.

During that time, a draft press release has been forwarded from the DFW to the DLNR Secretary’s office. Seman’s office said the press statement could not be released without the approval of the secretary.

Sources said the fishermen were fishing for a businesswoman who owns a fish company in San Vicente, but the trader denied the allegation by saying that her fishermen did not go to the Bird Island sanctuary.