WBRZ - Baton Rouge

BELLE CHASSE - Two men have pleaded guilty to a Louisiana fishing violation after authorities said fins from hundreds of sharks were found aboard their vessel.

Louisiana's Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says 37-year-old Rick Nguyen of Buras and 29-year-old Hung Anh Tiet of Dallas pleaded guilty Thursday to concealing illegal fish.

They were arrested in April after a joint state-federal patrol allegedly found fins from 518 sharks in a hidden compartment on their boat and 11 dead sharks on the deck. The daily commercial limit is 33 sharks per vessel.

Judge Kevin Connor fined each $950, revoked their state shark permits and set-line licenses and ordered them to have nothing to do with the shark business for two years.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is investigating.