A federal investigation recently resulted in huge fines against six vessels that broke laws designed to protect tuna stocks and whales, NOAA announced Wednesday.

A ship called American Triumph was fined $562,068 in August for illegally deploying a fish-aggregating device in 2009.

And the owners, operators and fishing masters of the vessels Ocean Encounter, Ocean Conquest, Sea Honor, Sea Quest and Pacific Ranger were fined $953,054 for setting their purse seine net on whales and illegally using FADs during the 2009 FAD closure.

Read more about the investigation and the court decisions here.

— Nathan Eagle

Dolphins and a purse seine fishing net. (Photo courtesy of NOAA)