An Auckland-based commercial fishing company has been fined USD 1.9 million after being found guilty in a U.S. court of dumping oily waste in waters off American Samoa.
Sanford was sentenced in a U.S. Federal Court in Washington following a two-week trial in August last year.
The court ordered that a further Community Service Payment of USD 500,000 be paid to the U.S. National Fisheries Foundation.
Sanford has been sentenced to three years probation, during which time it is banned from entering US ports until approved audits of the Company's Environmental Compliance Plan have been completed. The first audit is scheduled in February.
Sanford's lawyers argued at the hearing that the US Justice Department's call for the maximum USD 3 million fine and a five year probation period, including a ban on Sanford boats entering U.S. waters, was "excessive," local media reported.
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