PORTLAND, Maine _ A Maine company has pleaded guilty to illegally importing Canadian sea urchins into the state. ISF Trading Company of Portland acknowledged in federal court that it violated the law when it imported 48,000 pounds of the urchins, worth some $173,000 dollars.
The offenses were carried out over eight separate occasions.
The urchins were falsely billed as coming from a legitimate supplier, licensed to export to the US.
Urchins are popular for their roe, used in high end restaurant dishes, as well as sushi. The company could face more than a million dollars in fines.
