A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of New York unsealed a superseding indictment last week that charges a Montauk fisherman with both conspiracy and substantive charges in connection with a scheme to illegally overharvest fluke and black sea bass.
The United States Department of Justice announced on Jan. 26 that Christopher Winkler was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, to obstruct the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration through the falsification of fishing logs, and to unlawfully frustrate NOAA’s efforts at regulating federal fisheries.
Mr. Winkler, along with two members of Montauk’s Gosman family, were indicted last April on charges of conspiracy to commit fraud and obstructing an investigation in connection with a scheme to sell at least $250,000 in illegally caught fluke and black sea bass. Bryan Gosman and Asa Gosman, who are part owners of Bob Gosman Co. in Montauk, later pleaded guilty in federal court to one felony count of criminal conspiracy for their role in a scheme to purchase illegal fluke and black sea bass from Mr. Winkler. They were not charged in the superseding indictment, which takes the place of the previously active one.
The superseding indictment alleges that between May 2014 and February 2017, Mr. Winkler, as captain of the New Age, went on at least 220 fishing trips “on which he cumulatively overharvested at least 200,000 pounds more fluke, and at least 20,000 pounds more black sea bass, than he was allowed to catch under applicable trip limits during this time.” At various times, this fish was sold to two now-defunct companies in the New Fulton Fish Market in the Bronx and to Bob Gosman Co. According to court filings, the overall over-quota of all species of fish was valued at least at $850,000 wholesale.
Under federal law, a fishing captain is required to accurately detail his catch on a Fishing Vessel Trip Report, or F.V.T.R., which is sent to NOAA. The first company that buys fish directly from a fishing vessel is termed a fish dealer, and fish dealers are required to specify what they purchase on a federal form known as a dealer report, which is transmitted electronically to NOAA. NOAA uses this information to set policies designed to ensure a sustainable fishery.
The superseding indictment alleges that part of the conspiracy was to falsify both F.V.T.R.s and dealer reports in order to cover up the fact that fish were taken in excess of quotas.
The charges, according to the Department of Justice, are part of a multi-year, ongoing investigation into fisheries fraud on Long Island.
