Gosman Company Sentenced On Fish Trafficking Charges: Feds

MONTAUK, NY — Bob Gosman Co. Inc., a federally-licensed fish dealer located in Montauk, New York, was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Central Islip after being charged with fish trafficking, federal officials said.

Bob Gosman Co. Inc was sentenced on two counts of misdemeanor Lacey Act Fish Trafficking, Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division said.

The company had previously pleaded guilty on Nov. 18, 2021.

According to court filings, in May and June 2016, on at least five occasions, Bob Gosman Co. Inc. purchased illegal summer flounder, or fluke, which was landed at its commercial dock. The fluke was harvested in excess of New York State quotas that were in effect at the time, federal officials said.

The fluke was not accounted for on official forms, such as electronic dealer reports required to be filed with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, federal officials said. The company then sold a portion of the seafood in interstate commerce; the company stipulated that the retail value of this seafood was approximately $40,000, officials said.

Bob Gosman Co. Inc. was sentenced to pay a criminal fine of $50,000 and be placed on probation for four years, federal officials said.

As part of the probation, the company must implement an environmental compliance plan with enhanced monitoring, training and inspection requirements; aspects of the program include use of certified scales, standardization of transportation records, regular transmission of accounting records to a government monitor and an on-site workspace for law enforcement to enhance compliance, officials said.

In November, two members of the well-known family behind Gosman's in Montauk also pleaded guilty in federal court to a $240,000 overfishing scheme, according to the United States Department of Justice.

Managers Bryan Gosman and Asa Gosman, both of Montauk, pleaded guilty to one felony count of criminal conspiracy for their role in a scheme to purchase illegal summer flounder and black sea bass from a local fisherman, the DOJ said.

Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim announced the plea.

In addition, the company which they partially own, Bob Gosman Co. Inc., a federally-licensed fish dealer also located in Montauk, pleaded guilty to the two counts of misdemeanor Lacey Act fish trafficking, the DOJ said.

On April 20, a federal grand jury indicted Christopher Winkler, Bryan Gosman, Asa Gosman and Bob Gosman Co. Inc. with one count of conspiracy, among other crimes, the DOJ said. The indictment charged a conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud as well as to unlawfully frustrate the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration's efforts at regulating federal fisheries, the DOJ said.

The indictment alleged that between May 2014 and July 2016, Winkler, as captain of the New Age, went on dozens of fishing trips where he caught fluke or black sea bass in excess of applicable quotas, the DOJ said.

Bryan and Asa Gosman admitted that the fish was then sold to a now-defunct company, an unindicted co-conspirator, in the New Fulton Fish Market in the Bronx, the DOJ said.

Both Asa Gosman and Bryan Gosman had an ownership interest in the defunct company; after the Bronx company went under, Bryan and Asa Gosman contended that Winkler sold a much smaller quantity of his illegal catch directly to Bob Gosman Co. Inc., the DOJ said.

In court documents, Bryan and Asa Gosman admitted that the sales of illegal fish, to both companies, totaled at least $240,000 wholesale, the DOJ said.

Under federal law, a fishing captain is required to accurately detail his catch on a form known as a fishing vessel trip report, which is sent to NOAA, the DOJ said. 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, the DOJ explained.

NOAA utilizes the information to set policies designed to ensure a sustainable fishery.

Bryan and Asa Gosman stated that part of the conspiracy was to falsify both FVTRs and dealer reports to cover up the fact that fish were taken in excess of quotas; the pair also admitted to obstructing NOAA's investigation into the conspiracy through the joint destruction of incriminating business records that Bryan Gosman had removed from the defunct Bronx company in March 2017, the DOJ said.

Those records would have been responsive to a then-outstanding grand jury subpoena, the DOJ said.

The trial of the remaining fisherman, Christopher Winkler, has not yet been scheduled, the DOJ said.