SAIPAN, CNMI — An estimated 10 tons of sharks found in the holding area of a Taiwanese fishing vessel that was caught illegally fishing in CNMI waters were returned to the boat owner as part of the case's settlement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Schuler told reporters yesterday that, according to the consent decree, the owner of the Taiwanese longline fishing vessel Te Hung Fa will ship the catch back to Taiwan. "It was frozen. While the catch was here on Saipan, it was on the boat and the generators were running. It was kept frozen so that it would not spoil or lose any value it may have," Schuler said. The vessel was suspected of shark finning but the prosecutor said it is hard to determine whether the sharks' fins had been taken out. "You can't look at it unless you de-freeze. And if you de-freeze it then you would spoil all of the fish," he said. As far as the U.S. government was concerned, Schuler said, the boat was ready to leave Saipan at 8am yesterday morning. Te Hung Fa was recently seized and escorted to the Saipan port for illegally fishing within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone surrounding the Northern Marianas Islands. Wen-Te Lee, owner of the boat that operates out of Dunggang, Taiwan, settled the forfeiture complaint filed by the U.S. government for $500,000. The owner paid $200,000 to the U.S. government on Tuesday. Under the consent decree entered by the boat owner and the U.S. government, the remaining $300,000 will be paid after three years from the date of the signing of the consent decree. At the end of three years, if the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration determines that the vessel has successfully met all requirements of the decree and that the boat and the owner demonstrate a genuine inability to pay, NOAA may forgo the amount standing, plus interest. If not, the $300,000 shall be due and owing. | 
