The US Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP) on Friday filed a trove of documents showing its recent crackdown on Alaska seafood and shipping companies was very much intentional.
In a surprising response to American Seafoods' shipping subsidiaries initial court filing asking for a stay on the estimated $350 million in fines over alleged Jones Act violations, CBP attorneys issued harsh criticism of what is known as The Bayside Program, writing that the companies involved were "flouting the law."
In one filing, the agency showed screenshots of a social media post from a worker discussing the absurdity of the Bayside Canadian Railway (BCR), the critical lynchpin in The Bayside Program shipping route, a system specifically designed as a way to skirt US Jones Act regulations.
In his initial post, the worker noted that the railway was "built solely to satisfy the requirements of an import treaty," adding that it was "a huge time/fuel saver for those of us who transport frozen fish to US markets."
In explaining the system to responses to his post, the worker wrote:
"The wording in the treaty states the fish has to travel 'just so far' by train before it can be hauled stateside...and apparently a couple hundred feet is just far enough lol".
Later, he wrote that "its a headshaker but just becomes part of the routine after a while."
US-based pollock giant American Seafoods and other Alaska seafood suppliers are facing hundreds of millions in fines as part of a dispute with the US Customs and Border Protection agency (CBP) related to how the companies move product from Dutch Harbor facilities to customers on the East Coast of the United States.
American Seafoods shipping subsidiaries Kloosterboer International Forwarding (KIF) and Alaska Reefer Management (ARM) have asked an Alaska court to issue a temporary restraining order to stop the CBP enforcement that they claim threatens their ability to supply Alaska seafood to US customers and consumers.
In court documents filed in response to the restraining order request Friday, the CBP said American Seafoods and affiliated shipping companies "changed their business model to trim even more costs from their operation, flouting the law in the process."
In preparation for a Sept. 17 court date that will determine whether customs fines are suspended, American Seafoods affiliates hired the New York-based law firm Kasowitz Benson Torres -- which has notoriously gone to bat for former US President Donald Trump.
On Friday, companies received a boost in their quest to suspend the fines from The Wall Street Journal.
“The runaround is economically looney, but it gets Alaska’s fish to the East Coast relatively cheaply, given how the Jones Act restricts the alternatives,” the Journal editorial board wrote.
