The New Age is owned by Christopher Winkler, who has been implicated by a federal agency in an alleged conspiracy involving over-limit catches of fluke and black sea bass.
A federal grand jury has indicted two members of Montauk's Gosman family and a commercial fishing boat owner on charges of conspiracy to commit fraud and obstructing an investigation in connection with a scheme to sell at least $250,000 in illegally caught fluke and black sea bass. The United States Department of Justice announced the indictment on Wednesday.
The indictment stems from about 70 fishing trips that Christopher Winkler, 61, also of Montauk, made aboard his boat New Age from May 2014 to July 2016 during which he took fluke and black sea bass in excess of federal catch quotas, according to the Department of Justice. The fish was sold to a now-defunct company, Greater New York Fish, at the New Fulton Fish Market in the Bronx that was owned in part by Asa Gosman, 45, and Bryan Gosman, 48.
After the Bronx company stopped operating, Mr. Winkler continued to sell the allegedly illegal catch to the two men, through Bob Gosman Co., in which they had an ownership role, the Justice Department said.
The grand jury charged Mr. Winkler, Bryan Gosman, and Asa Gosman with one count each of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud as well as to unlawfully frustrate National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration regulatory efforts.
The men conspired to bring at least 74,000 pounds of fluke, also known as summer flounder, to market, the Justice Department said. Fluke is a highly regulated species and has long been a source of contention among federal fisheries officials, recreational and commercial fishing advocates, and the representatives of the Mid-Atlantic and New England states. Federal law requires catch reports from both harvesters, such as Mr. Winkler, and fish dealers. The indictment alleges that part of the conspiracy was to falsify the catch reports and dealer reports to cover up the fact that the fish had been landed above quota limits.
Asa Gosman, Bryan Gosman, and Bob Gosman Co. Inc., acting through its agents and employees, were charged with obstructing the investigation by withholding documents and records sought by the grand jury.
Bryan Gosman would not comment on the indictment on Wednesday evening. “We didn’t know anything about this until 20 minutes ago,” he said. “I don’t know enough about it” to comment.
Mr. Winkler's 50-foot-long New Age nearly sunk in February 2020 about 25 miles south of Fire Island with three Amagansett fishermen aboard. A Coast Guard cutter reached the badly listing New Age about an hour and a half after receiving a mayday call. The New Age was pumped out and made it to Belford, N.J., still with about 1,500 pounds of fluke aboard.
NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement is leading the investigation. Christopher Hale of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division's Environmental Crimes Section is the prosecutor.
The defendants had not been arraigned as of Wednesday evening.
With Reporting by Christopher Walsh
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