BOSTON (AP) – The captain of two New Bedford-based lobster boats pleaded guilty on Tuesday to violating fisheries laws for ordering his crew members to remove the eggs of female lobsters so they could be sold in port.

Jose Silva, 50, of Dartmouth, pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act, the federal wildlife trafficking statute, making false statements to Coast Guard officials, and obstruction of justice.

Silva, over a four-year period, commanded his crew to remove the eggs of thousands of female lobsters, commonly known as “scrubbing,” prosecutors said.

Federal and state laws prohibit catching egg-bearing lobsters as a way of maintaining the viability of the fishery.

Silva is also charged with keeping “v-notched” lobsters. Lobster fishermen who catch female lobsters cut a v-shaped notch in their tails before returning them to the sea so that fishermen who later catch the same lobsters know they are females capable of reproduction.

The Coast Guard boarded one of Silva’s vessels on March 7, 2004, and discovered lobsters on board after he had told them there were none, prosecutors said.

Sentencing is scheduled for March 22. Silva faces a maximum of five years in prison for each count, except the obstruction of justice count, for which he faces a maximum of 20 years.