United States v. 144,774 pounds of Blue King Crab

410 F.3d 1131 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, Deep Sea Fisheries Inc; Deep Sea Harvester, Inc., Claimants-Appellants, and John R. Boggs, President Deep Sea Fisheries Inc.; Global Fishing Inc, a Washington Corporation; Kamchatcomagroprombank, a Russian Chartered Bank, Claimants, v. 144,774 POUNDS OF BLUE KING CRAB, more or less, Defendant. No. 03-36006. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted May 2, 2005. Filed June 9, 2005. John M. Colvin, Chicoine & Hallett, P.S., Seattle, WA, for the claimants-appellants. John McKay, Peter O. Mueller, and Richard E. Cohen, United States Attorney's Office, Seattle, WA, for the plaintiff-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington; John C. Coughenour, Chief Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-02-02167-JCC. Before WALLACE, SILVERMAN, and PAEZ, Circuit Judges. SILVERMAN, Circuit Judge. 1 King crab taken in violation of Russian fishing regulations is subject to forfeiture under the Lacey Act, 16 U.S.C. § 3374 (a), on a strict liability basis. The question before us is whether an importer of such crab may assert an "innocent owner defense" in forfeiture…