Restaurateurs in trouble for illegal conch

One restaurant owner was spared a $3 million fine or a year imprisonment, after he pleaded guilty to having conch in his possession during the off-season period.

Kitwahna Vassell, the owner of Rocksteady Seafood Restaurant, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting to possession of conch during the closed season and beyond declaration period, a breach of the Fisheries Act. It was shared in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Monday that inspectors from the Fisheries Division of the agriculture ministry conducted checks at the restaurant and found 14 pounds of conch. Vassell said he was not in the country at the time of the inspection.

"You see when you are in an industry, you have to keep yourself informed and you have to operate within the regulatory realm. There are reasons for them," Senior Parish Judge Lori-Anne Cole-Montaque recommended.

"We are a new restaurant, with an extremely young team, we did not know anything about it. We educated our staff about this breach," Vassell responded.

The inspector told the judge that he received full cooperation from the restaurant's supervisor, who did not hesitate to show the conch. Vassell was fined $40,000 or six months' imprisonment.

Veshia Thompson, Vassell's co-accused, was not present in court to answer to being in possession of conch during closed season beyond declaration period. A summons was reissued to accommodate her appearance in court at a later date.

Another restaurant owner, Shamoy Ferguson of So-So Seafood, is to return to court on April 24, when he is to be sentenced for being in possession of conch during closed season beyond the declaration period, and obstructing the fisheries inspector while on duty. He pleaded guilty to both offences.

The court heard that the inspector visited the premises after seeing conch advertised for sale on the menu. The inspector related that Ferguson told him that he had a small portion of conch, after which the inspector informed Ferguson of the conch season regulations. The court heard that Ferguson refused a search request.

"I asked him to vacate the vicinity because he was obstructing and he went into an office. We called him and he took quite a time to come back. We then were escorted to a second kitchen to do further inspections and we found the conch there in a bin. He asked to dispose of it, but I said we could not dispose of the evidence. I asked him who disposed of it and that's when he started getting a little aggressive and he left us again," the inspector related.

Cole-Montaque indicated great shock after hearing the revelation that a bag of conch, about 23 pounds, was found in a garbage bin.

The matter was not fully ventilated in court, as Ferguson's attorney was not present. Ferguson's co-accused, Simone Grant, who is charged with aiding and abetting to possession of conch during the closed season and beyond declaration period, was also absent.