THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 29, 1997 TAG: 9701290472
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 45 lines
Wanchese Fish Co. is off the hook.
The Roanoke Island seafood dealer had been scheduled to appear in Manhattan Criminal Court Tuesday on charges that a truck driver illegally transported 5,200 pounds of weakfish to New York last month.
But owner Joey Daniels paid a $500 fine earlier in the month and New York's Department of Environmental Conservation dropped the charges against Daniels and his truck driver.
``We're not admitting we did anything wrong. But it would have cost a lot more than $500 in lawyers fees and court costs to win this case,'' Wanchese Fish Co. attorney Waverley Berkley said Tuesday from his Norfolk office.
``New York State was way out of line on this one. Wanchese Fish didn't violate any laws,'' said Berkley. ``But he (Daniels) wanted to settle this case and get on with business.''
New York fish cops arrested Daniels' truck driver at Fulton's Fish Market on Dec. 20 and charged him with possessing 104 boxes of untagged weakfish. North Carolina is the only state that is allowed to sell weakfish in New York out of season. But each fish - also called gray trout - has to be individually tagged.
The fish that did not have tags were worth about $5,000 total. But they were not caught or packaged by Wanchese Fish Co. employees. Nearby seafood dealers in Wanchese contracted Daniels' driver to transport their haul to New York.
``I'm the same as a UPS or FedEx truck delivering products,'' Daniels said. ``Those weren't my fish. I wasn't responsible for their tags.''
By law, people who possess untagged weakfish can be fined up to $250 per fish. The confiscated catch could have carried charges of $650,000. But New York officers didn't charge the Outer Banks seafood dealers who caught and packaged the fish with any infractions.
``The case has been resolved. And the charges against Daniels have been dismissed,'' said Gary Sheffer, a spokesman for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. ``No other charges against other fish companies have been filed.''
When officers arrested Daniels' driver, Sheffer said, the boxes they inspected in the Wanchese Fish Co. truck ``were sealed and marked as bluefish. The driver had no way to inspect the contents. Those guys were common carriers, operating as a trucking company.''