Fine and probation for Carib Sea!

[Amphibious]

Wasn't sure where to post this but, thought you'd like to be informed.

Don't know if you've seen this but it goes to show you the owners of Carib Sea care more about profit than coral reefs.

From: http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls/PressR...061108-04.html

FORT PIERCE COMPANY AND ITS PRESIDENT PLEAD GUILTY AND ARE SENTENCED FOR ILLEGALLY IMPORTING CORAL ROCK INTO THE UNITED STATES


November 8, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Eddie McKissick, Resident Agent in Charge, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Hal Robbins, Special Agent in Charge, NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement, Southeast Division, and Jesus Torres, Special Agent in Charge, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, announced that Carib Sea, Inc., a Fort Pierce-based aquarium supply company, and Richard Greenfield, 46, of Fort Pierce, pled guilty and were sentenced in federal District Court on November 7, 2006, in connection with the illegal importation of more than 42,000 pounds of protected coral rock from Haiti to the United States. Both defendants were charged in connection with a shipment that arrived in March 2006, contrary to the laws of the United States and an international treaty intended to protect threatened and endangered species of wildlife, all in violation of the federal Lacey Act, Title 16, United States Code, Sections 3372 and 3373.
United States District Court Judge Marcia G. Cooke accepted the guilty pleas of the two defendants and proceeded to immediate sentencing. Carib Sea, Inc. was sentenced to a three year period of court-supervised probation and ordered to make a $25,000 community service payment to the South Florida National Park Trust to assist in funding and enhancing the existing Coral Nursery Program in Biscayne National Park.
Richard Greenfield was also placed on three years probation, and ordered to pay a criminal fine in the amount of $25,000. Additionally, the defendants were held jointly liable for storage and transportation costs exceeding $10,000 which related to the March 2006 seizure and approximately 40,000 pounds of coral rock found and seized by the government at the company

[graphixx]

Dick, that is ridiculous. I cannot bieleve that. Chasing the allmighty dollar that is not someone who I would do business with in this hobby. sustainable efforts are very important to me. thanks for the article.

[Sweetpea]

Thank you for sharing this article. As responsible reefers, it is very imoprtant to stay on top of situations like this.

[Suzy]

Wow! That is such a different response than I saw on our local site!

Here's one take:

Carib Sea is being punished for taking terrestial rock. Rock not from a reef. Rock from land. Actually, saving a reef from being destroyed for rock.....

I've met Richard Greenfield, and I think he is a good guy....

You are only showing one side of the story.

[seahorsedreams]

Carib Sea is being punished for taking terrestial rock. Rock not from a reef. Rock from land. Actually, saving a reef from being destroyed for rock.....

Where does it say he was taking terrestial rock?

[Suzy]

Renee, I do not think thread will reveal the entire story. Sometimes, websites are used to promote businesses and somtimes they are used to attack the competition. I am not saying that is what is happening here, maybe there is another reason why I am the only one standing up for a company that has proven it's stand on the environment over and over. But these statements make me feel used:

"Don't know if you've seen this but it goes to show you the owners of Carib Sea care more about profit than coral reefs."

"I've never done business with Carib Sea because they hold an illegal monopoly on Aragonite sand in America. This seals the deal on my feelings of the company and the owners."

Here's a tiny piece of the other side:


http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2006/11/08/1108coral.html

[lReef lKeeper]

this is what i heard about this ...

NEWS RELEASE: U.S. Department of Justice United States Attorney Southern
District of Florida 99 N.E. 4 Street Miami, FL 33132 (305) 961-9001
November 7, 2006

FORT PIERCE COMPANY AND PRESIDENT PLEAD GUILTY
AND ARE SENTENCED FOR ILLEGALLY IMPORTING
CORAL ROCK INTO THE UNITED STATES

R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern
District of Florida, Eddie McKissick, Resident Agent in Charge, U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service, Hal Robbins, Special Agent in Charge, NOAA
Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement, Southeast Division, and Jesus
Torres, Special Agent in Charge, Immigration & Customs Enforcement,
announced today that Carib Sea, Inc., a Fort Pierce based aquarium
supply company, and Richard Greenfield, 46, of Fort Pierce, pled guilty
and were sentenced in Miami federal District Court in connection with
the illegal importation of more than 42,000 pounds of protected coral
rock from Haiti to the United States. Both defendants were charged in
connection with a shipment that arrived in March 2006, contrary to the
laws of the United States and an international treaty intended to
protect threatened and endangered species of wildlife, all in violation
of the federal Lacey Act, Title 16, United States Code, Sections 3372
and 3373.

United States District Court Judge Marcia G. Cooke accepted the
guilty pleas of the two defendants and proceeded to immediate
sentencing. Carib Sea, Inc. was sentenced to a three year period of
court-supervised probation and ordered to make a $25,000 community
service payment to the South Florida National Park Trust to assist in
funding and enhancing the existing Coral Nursery Program in Biscayne
National Park; a program operating to increase scientific understanding
of coral growth with specific application to restoration and
enhancement
of coral reefs degraded by human activity and other causes by culturing
a supply of hard and soft corals for translocation into damaged sites.

Richard Greenfield was also placed on three years probation, and
ordered to pay a criminal fine in the amount of $25,000. Additionally,
the defendants were held jointly liable for storage and transportation
costs exceeding $10,000 which related to the March 2006 seizure and
approximately 40,000 pounds of coral rock found and seized by the
government at the company’s business location. The coral rock involved
in this matter, with a market value of approximately $75,000, is being
transferred to a non-profit research institution, Harbor Branch
Oceanographic Institute to avoid its being entered into commercial
commerce. The defendants are also obligated to publish a notice in
three
publications related to the aquarium trade, explaining their violation
of law and the applicable requirements of CITES and U.S. regulations.

According to the Information filed in this matter and a statement
of facts presented in Court, in March 2006, the defendants were
involved
in the importation of a cargo-container load of coral rock from Haiti.
Under a convention known as “CITES” - the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, more than 150
countries have banded together to provide protection to a variety of
species in danger of imminent extinction, or which may become so, if
trade in their specimens is not carefully regulated. That protection
extends to all coral rock, which is an invertebrate within the phylum
coelenterate. To legally import such specimens into the United States,
the importer must, among other requirements, obtain and present to the
Fish & Wildlife Service a valid foreign export permit from the country
of origin, or if the country of origin is not a CITES member, such as
Haiti, a corresponding document described in U.S. regulations. Neither
of the defendants, or their Haitian supplier, possessed or presented
the
appropriate documentation for the coral in this case at the time of
importation

Coral reef destruction has been the subject of intense debate at
the meetings of the parties to CITES. Loss of reef habitat, which is
one
of the most productive and diverse ecosystems, is a world-wide concern.
As nurseries for marine species of commercial value, as well as a
source
of income from recreational fishing and eco-tourists, and a protective
barrier for coastlines, a significant effort is underway to preserve
the
existing reef structures and reverse their decline.

Mr. Acosta commended the coordinated investigative efforts of the
U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and
Immigration & Customs Enforcement, which brought the matter to a
successful conclusion. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant
United
States Attorneys Thomas Watts-FitzGerald.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the
United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at
www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be
found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of
Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Tom R. MacKenzie
Chief, Media Relations
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Southeast Region
404-679-7291 Fax:404-679-7286 Cell: 678-296-6400
http://www.fws.gov/southeast

i got it from this link ...

http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic50823-9-1.aspx

[mutts]

this is all very interesting... i think this as i eye 120 lbs of carib sea products on my floor...

and what i have learned about life so far is that there are about 44 differant sides of every story

[Sweetpea]

Here's a tiny piece of the other side:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2006/11/08/1108coral.html

Thank you for sharing this article. It really is important for conscientious folks to be informed of current events that impact our "hobby".


...maybe there is another reason why I am the only one standing up for a company that has proven it's stand on the environment over and over. But these statements make me feel used...
Wow, Suzy. I'm sorry to hear that Richard's opinions were so hurtful to you, but please do not take personal offense. Members having different opinions does not need to be a cause of distress - for anyone.

I appreciate both articles that were posted here. We NEED to keep one another "up to speed" on issues, trends, etc.!!!:D

[JustDavidP]

FYI... Excerpted from my Boston Reefer's Society Forums:

Apparantley this was a "technicality". They had permits, but apparently this rock fell into another category. Anthony Calfo contacted them and wrote this (got this from RC)

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To all - the the above story/issue re: Carib Sea did not make sense to me at face value - the company is so big, so industry friendly... and so smart, etc

So I talked to the company directly for the skinny on it... turns out the matter is as suspected (administrative oversight... non-nefarious, and rather minor IMO):

The gist of it from ems:

------------------------------

The product was our reef bones. It is dead live rock, and a common construction material in Haiti and many other tropical islands. It was a nice looking product when we released it several years back... as I am sure you are aware, all of the laws, and permits for these various resources can be very confusing. We simply did not have the proper permit in place for one container of product of the several we had brought in over the last few years. We now have the correct permit. It’s funny a simple $100 permit cost us upwards of a quarter of a million dollars in fines, legal fees, storage fees, and the product they kept.

Fortunately we learned a lot from this experience. We will continue on our path, helping and donating time, money, and product to research groups and conservation efforts such as our program with the Blue Iguana Recovery Program (www.blueiguana.ky) to help save the Blue Iguana.

People tend to overlook anything good, and focus on the size of the fine and company name.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


And a second post:

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
so the summary is... much like the unclear (and often unknown by officers themselves) Fish and Wildlife regs that badly jamb up LFS owners importing (and kill animals for the vague paper recs) - Caribsea's oversight was a documentation issue on one among several legal shipments. And their precedent was all legal shipments too.

This reminds me of the thousands (I'm not kidding) of clams that F&W has killed by delaying shipments of AQUACULTURED clams because the import docs did not list the gravel(!) that was stuck under the clamshell (farmers use local aggregate to sometimes grow baby clams).

This is beurocracy folks... not poaching. Caribsea is a good company... please give them a break.

(and for my name/personality... let me state that I have never taken so much as a free sample at a tradeshow or otherwise from this company. My opinion here is unbiased)

[JustDavidP]

For what it's worth... I WISH I could have a "pulse" on the hobby. My daily DoD work keeps me too busy. I truly trust Sir Antoine and his take on this matter...he's not steered me wrong with any advice he's offered me in my few years in the hobby.

Debate as you will..but as far as I'm concerned... case closed.

Dave

[Sweetpea]

Nice excerpt D... glad you shared it!


I truly trust Sir Antoine
Sir Antoine? You crack me up!:cool:

[RHAPALA]

what Anthony Calfo said in that post that justdavid posted .......makes sence to me and i agree that a slight mix up in the paperwork on anything can really screw up a order..................as for me i agree case closed and i will keep my order with thim for my sand

[jojo22]

Well if nothing else comes of it they will now keep their paperwork a little tighter and if they already made contributions to conservation groups they shouldn't mind that, PLUS it may still be a tax deduction for them. I will continue to buy any of their products. I hate the red tape our government puts on these type of things and my purcase will only help a great company come past the crap.

[dakar]

Sounds like a good enough explanation to me... probably a lot more of these 'incidents' happen every month, just hyped by those who love the drama of a company getting hammered. But think about it, who is really going to pay for this little paperwork shuffle that should have happened? These extra costs and fines will come out of our pockets in some form or another.

Carib-Sea has a great track record for being very ecologically friendly. I can think of quite a few others that could/should/need to learn from them.