Long Island Fisherman Sentenced for Role in Fisheries Fraud Conspiracy

A Long Island, New York, fisherman was sentenced yesterday to 30 months in prison and two years of supervised release for his role in a fisheries fraud conspiracy associated with his captainship of the trawler New Age from 2014 to 2017.

In October 2023, a jury convicted Christopher Winkler, of Montauk of one count of federal criminal conspiracy, two counts of mail fraud and two counts of obstruction of justice.

On at least 200 fishing trips, Winkler targeted summer flounder (fluke) and black sea bass, and harvested those fish in excess of quotas and state trip limits. He also falsified Fishing Vessel Trip Reports for those trips.

In a related case, Bryan and Asa Gosman and the company they partially own — Bob Gossman Co. Inc. — previously pleaded guilty for their role in the fishing fraud conspiracy. In total, approximately 200,000 pounds of fluke and black sea bass were overharvested, with a conservative wholesale valuation of $750,000.

Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and Assistant Director Michael Henry of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office of Law Enforcement, Northeast Division made the announcement.

NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement investigated the case as part of Operation One-Way Chandelier.

Christopher L. Hale and Kenneth Nelson of the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Environmental Crimes Section prosecuted the case, with logistical support from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.