Federal court papers - filed in Miami on July 31 - charge Neptune Fisheries and the company's vice president, Aaron Candella, with bringing in about 190,000 pounds of frozen spiny-lobster tails between March 1996 and June 2001. Neptune was based in Newport News from 1985 to 1998. Since 1988, Nicaragua has placed limits on the size of lobsters that can be harvested off its shores to protect against excessive fishing. The 5-ounce limit was set to allow young lobsters to reach reproductive maturity and repopulate the species because catching and exporting the delicacy is such a big money maker.
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Neptune Fisheries charged with illegal smuggling
Daily Press: A Norfolk-based fish and seafood wholesale company has been charged in a conspiracy that imported more than $2 million worth of undersized spiny lobsters to the United States from Nicaragua over five years.
8 August 2003 5:00 GMT
Updated
10 July 2012 5:50 GMT