U.S. Ends Seizures of Vessels Under ‘Zero Tolerance’ Policy

WASHINGTON —  Backing away from its controversial policy of “zero tolerance,” the government will no longer seize commercial fishing boats found to be carrying small quantities of illegal drugs, the Coast Guard and Customs Service said Wednesday.

The change took effect immediately after the announcement by Coast Guard Adm. Paul Yost and Customs Service Commissioner William Von Raab.

The officials said the new guidelines would “augment the zero tolerance program,” but they marked a significant retreat from the core of the year-old policy, mandated by Congress in sweeping anti-drug legislation last year, which empowered federal agents to seize a vessel in U.S. waters if any amount of illegal drugs was found on-board.

Under the revised procedure, seizure of fishing vessels will be prohibited in cases in which only “personal use amounts” of drugs are found. That will likely be interpreted to mean less than an ounce of marijuana or less than an ounce of cocaine, a Coast Guard official said.

Agents who make such discoveries have been instructed merely to issue a summons ordering the boat operator to appear before a Customs magistrate at the end of the voyage.

The “zero tolerance” policy has resulted in the seizure of 113 vessels since it went into effect last March. It has been the target of heated criticism by boat owners, who contend that seizure is unjust punishment for violations that in some cases were no more serious than possession of traces of marijuana by a single passenger or crew member. Some of those boats later were returned to their owners after fines were paid.

Commercial fishermen voiced particular opposition after the seizure of more than 15 boats raised concerns that the transgressions of one crew member could endanger the livelihood of the entire crew. Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), a principal advocate for their cause, declared that “innocent owners” were being “persecuted by well-meaning but over excited enforcement agents.”

The new rules, narrowly approved by Congress in November, will affect commercial fishing vessels in operation or en route to or from fishery operations.

Despite the new prohibition on immediate seizure of such vessels, the Customs Service will retain the authority to decide at a later hearing whether the boat should be forfeited or a penalty imposed.

The Administration’s modification of its “zero tolerance” regulations comes more than a month after a congressional deadline. But a Coast Guard spokesman, Capt. Randall Peterson, said the frequency of boat seizures had decreased significantly some time ago.

In the last four or five months, Peterson said, the government has seized “only a handful of vessels.” He attributed the decline to “increased wariness” on the part of boat owners.