Fishmonger sentenced for falsely labeled salmon
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SEATTLE -- A Washington state fishmonger has been sentenced to a year in prison for falsely labeling salmon.

Douglas Jay of Ferndale pleaded guilty in September to a charge that from 2005 to 2007, he sent clients coho salmon when they ordered more expensive chinook.

The 50-year-old Canadian citizen sold more than 160,000 pounds of the mislabeled fish, which was valued at more than $1.3 million. His company, D Jay Enterprises, went out of business, but the U.S. Attorney's Office says he now runs a different fish processor, Premiere Packing LLC of Lynden.

In addition to the prison time, Jay must make a community service payment of $347,000 to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman said at his sentencing Friday that such mislabeling damages consumer confidence in the seafood industry.