Russia charges Bellevue businessman with illegally exporting more than 50 million pounds of king crab

A Bellevue businessman has been charged by Russia with exporting more than 50 million pounds of illegally caught king crab, according to charges released this week by the Russian Interior Ministry.

Arkadi Gontmakher is the founder of Global Fishing, a Bellevue company that had ranked as the largest importer of Russian king crab into the United States.

The Interior Ministry accuses Gontmakher of joining in a scheme that involved the illegal harvest and export of more than 50 million pounds of crab by a Russian company called Eastern Fish Resources.

Gontmakher was first jailed in Moscow last September, but no charges were filed. It is unclear where he is being held, or if he has a lawyer, according to an Associated Press report.

The charges, which include money laundering and illegal fishing, identify Gontmakher only by his surname. They also name two other individuals, Embarek and Darminov, who are also linked to Eastern Fish Resources. The charges include money laundering and illegal fishing.

The poached crab was allegedly exported into U.S. markets in 2006 and 2007, and would have had a value of some $200 million. These exports would represent roughly 40 percent of the total amount of Russian king crab exported into the U.S. markets in those years, when prices took a nose-dive to the dismay of Alaska crabbers who complained about the surging volumes of Russian crab.

Global Fishing officials declined to comment Wednesday on the Russian charges.

In a statement released last November, Global Fishing officials said their company has always operated in a legal and ethical manner.

"We will continue to serve all our customers as fully as possible," the statement said. "Arkadi's family and colleagues are understandably shocked and suffering a great deal of emotional distress over Arkadi's continuing and unjustified detention by Russian authorities."

His detention last year was part of a broader Russian crackdown on illegal-seafood harvests in eastern Russia, which exploded in the chaotic years after the collapse of the former Soviet Union.

Global Fishing worked in a partnership with Eastern Fish Resources, which received crab-quota allocations from the Russian government. Those quotas were based on estimates of how much crab could be safely harvested without damaging the seafood resource.

The Russian government accuses Eastern Fish Resources of harvesting more than seven times its allocated quota during the two-year period, according to a statement released by the Interior Ministry.

The National Marine Fisheries Service also has been investigating shipments of Russia crab imports for possible violations of U.S. laws.

"The feds have been working on it, and have called me periodically to ask for any additional information," said Arni Thomson, executive director of the Alaska Crab Coalition, a Seattle-based group representing some Alaska-crab-vessel owners. "They've definitely been tracking this thing and trying to get as much information as possible.

Thomson in recent years has sought to draw attention to illegal Russian harvests, which — as the product surged into the U.S. — helped lower the prices paid for Alaska-caught king crab.

This year, Russian king-crab imports from the Far East have plummeted as tougher enforcement has reduced poaching. The Russian news agency ITAR-tass reported last week that the government tripled the number of winter and spring vessel checks compared to last year and detained 15 vessels for poaching.

The reduced flow of Russian crab has helped push up the price of king crab. Much of the smaller king crab came from the Russian Far East and prices have increased by 70 to 80 percent, according to John Sackton, editor of Seafood.com.

Hal Bernton: 206-464-2581 or hbernton@seattletimes.com

The Associated Press contributed to this report.