Sea Cucumber Conspiracy Netted Businessman $1.5 Million: Feds

SEATTLE, WA - A Pierce County businessman is facing a felony charge for allegedly over-harvesting sea cucumbers, a bottom-feeding animal protected by state and federal law - and one that's eaten as a delicacy around the world and sells for as much as $170 per pound.

According to charges filed in federal court in Seattle, Hoon Namkoong, owner of Orient Seafood Production (OSP) in Fife, allegedly conspired with fishermen around Puget Sound to under-report sea cucumber purchases for more than two years.

"Hoon Namkoong enriched himself while causing sea cucumbers to be substantially over-harvested in an amount with a market value of approximately $1.5 million," federal prosecutors wrote in charging papers.

The conspiracy began in August 2014, according to prosecutors, when Namkoong allegedly worked with fishermen in Whatcom County to falsify sea cucumber records.

The state Department of Fish and Wildlife regulates the number of sea cucumbers that fishermen and tribes can harvest each year. When a wholesaler buys seafood from a fisherman, state law requires both parties to complete a "fish ticket" showing the quantity bought. That allows WDFD to count the sales toward annual quotas.

Between 2014 and November 2016, Namkoong allegedly bought sea cucumbers using a combination of cash and checks. The fishermen and Namkoong would then fill out fish tickets counting only the sea cucumbers bought by check.

In total, Namkoong bought an estimated 250,000 pounds of sea cucumbers off-the-books.

Namkoong has been charged with conspiring to violate the Lacey Act, a circa 1900 federal law that protects marine life from illegal commerce. Federal prosecutors want Namkoong to pay back the estimated $1.5 million he earned off those illicit sea cucumbers. Federal prosecutors also want to seize any equipment Namkoong used in the alleged conspiracy.

The charges come after detectives from the WDFW investigations unit began looking into OSP's sea cucumber purchases. The over-harvest was so significant, state bioligists took notice.

"Biologists have observed classic signs of sea cucumber over-fishing in some areas for quite some time. This includes reduced abundance, reduced catch per unit effort, a diver transition to deeper harvest, and a reduction in the size (weight) of sea cucumbers," WDFW Director Jim Unsworth wrote in a 2017 report, written months before Namkoong was charged.

Patch has reached out to Namkoong's attorney for comment. We will update this story as soon as we hear back.

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