SEATTLE, United States — The owner of a Washington seafood company was sentenced to two years in prison for overharvesting sea cucumbers and must pay $1.5 million in restitution — the second large bust of illegal sea cucumber trade in the U.S. West in just over a year. “This illegal activity damages the health of the Puget Sound ecosystem by endangering the sustainability of the sea cucumber population,” Hayes said. Harvesting sea cucumbers is permitted in the United States and many parts of the world, but in limited quantities and only during high season. Last year, federal officials filed charges against a father-son partnership for allegedly smuggling more than $17 million worth of sea cucumbers to the United States and exporting them to Asia. According to court records, in the recent Washington case, Namkoong bought Puget Sound sea cucumbers from both tribal and nontribal fishers over three seasons.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer September 29, 2018 22:41 UTC