Troopers update Cook Inlet enforcement cases

From the Alaska State Troopers:

Location: Cook Inlet Central District

Type: Commercial fish closed period

On 7/17/23 Soldotna Wildlife Troopers observed the F/V Early Dawn commercial fishing with a drift gillnet in the Cook Inlet Central District when commercial fishing had closed. Troopers contacted the permit holder, Abraham Porter, 45, of Kenai, and issued him a citation with a mandatory appearance in Homer District Court. Porter pled no contest at arraignment and was given a $3,000 fine with $1,500 suspended.

Location: Cook Inlet Central District

Type: Commercial fish closed period

On 7/17/23 Soldotna Wildlife Troopers observed the F/V Cat II commercial fishing with a drift gillnet in the Cook Inlet Central District when commercial fishing had closed. Troopers contacted the permit holder, Joshua Black, 42, of Palmer, and issued him a citation for a second commercial fishing offense with a mandatory appearance in Homer District Court. Black was given a default judgment at arraignment and a fine of $6,000.

Location: Cook Inlet Central District

Type: Commercial fish closed period

On 7/17/23 Soldotna Wildlife Troopers observed the F/V Starshine commercial fishing with a drift gillnet in the Cook Inlet Central District when commercial fishing had closed. Troopers contacted the permit holder, Donald Bridges, 75, of Soldotna, and issued him a citation with a mandatory appearance in Homer District Court. Bridges pled no contest at arraignment and was given a $3,000 fine with $1,500 suspended.

Location: Cook Inlet Central District

Type: Commercial fish closed area

On 7/18/23 Soldotna Wildlife Troopers observed the F/V Cordova commercial fishing with a drift gillnet in the Cook Inlet Central District in a closed area. Troopers contacted the permit holder, Yakov Reutov, 53, of Sterling, and issued him a citation with a mandatory appearance in Kenai District Court. Reutov pled no contest at arraignment and was given a $3,000 fine with $1,500 suspended.

Fines imposed after Russian, U.S. authorities respond to suspected outlaw fishing vessel

The U.S. Coast Guard reported the following last week to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

On 14 Jan 2018, representatives from the Russian Border Guard (RBG) notified USCG District 17 of a possible illegal unreported and unregulated (IUU) transshipment vessel operating within the U.S. EEZ. The Russian Border Guard stated that the vessel "SEA BREEZE" (Sierra Leone flag) was located 185 nm SSW of Attu, Alaska and was suspected of illegally fishing for crab in U.S. and Russian waters, and linked to organized crime. Russia planned to conduct a search for the M/V SEA BREEZE and requested USCG assistance. D17 responded to Russia's request by launching a HC130 from Air Station Kodiak to detect the suspect vessel and successfully located it operating in the Central Bering Sea (aka Donut Hole) with what appeared to be crab pots onboard. The aircraft attempted to hail and query the vessel, but the vessel was not responsive. All information was passed to the RBG who deployed afloat assets, reacquired the vessel in the Russian EEZ, and conducted an at-sea enforcement boarding. The Russian media reports the M/V SEA BREEZE was detained by the Kamchatka Border Guard for two violations: not authorized to fish in the Russian EEZ and failure to have a logbook onboard. Total fines exceeded 6.5 million rubles ($114,000). The vessel was escorted back to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky for further investigation. M/V SEA BREEZE represents the eighth potential IUU transshipment vessel attempting to operate along the U.S.-Russia maritime boundary line since January of 2017.

Southeast lodge nets $10,000 fine, probation

The Alaska State Troopers today issued the following press release:

Jan. 13, 2011

Alaska lodge guilty of sale of sport fish

JUNEAU — The Doc Warner's lodge near Juneau received a sentence today following a multiagency investigation beginning in the summer of 2009.

Doc Warner's lodge is an Alaskan limited liability corporation. Investigators with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration did an undercover operation at the lodge in 2009. Investigators were fed sport-caught fish as a part of the paid package during their stay. Employees of Doc Warner's admitted that fish fed to clients was sport-caught by other clients and/or employees.

Alaska law provides that no person may buy, sell or barter sport-caught fish or their parts. A violation of this law is punishable as a class A misdemeanor offense and a corporation that violates this law may be punished by a fine of up to $200,000 per offense.

NOAA turned the investigation over to state authorities for further investigation by Alaska Wildlife Troopers and prosecution by the Office of Special Prosecutions and Appeals.

The Office of Special Prosecutions charged Doc Warner’s Alaska Fishing Inc. with four counts of sale of sport-caught fish for the years 2006-2009.

On Jan. 13, 2009, the corporation entered a guilty plea to one consolidated charge of sale of sport-caught fish in violation of 5 AAC 75.015.

Judge Nave imposed the agreed upon sentence of a fine of $40,000 with $30,000 suspended, informal probation for a period of two years, with the conditions that the corporation commit no new law violations, including fish and game offenses.

Six fined at Sitka for herring pound violations

From the Alaska State Troopers:

Location: Sitka
Type: Herring pound violations
On 6/15/10 Sitka Wildlife Troopers charged Rudolph K. Johanson, 73, David A. Walker, 36, James A. Tissychy, 38, Rachel A. Williams, 60, and Amy Majors, 24, all of Ketchikan, and Archie W. Demmert, 49, of Klawock, for failing to maintain herring pounds in original configuration. Investigation on 5/14/10 near Emmons Island in Hoonah Sound revealed each permit holder's herring pound webbing had been removed from its original configuration before allowed by regulation. Regulations require the pounds and webbing to remain in place for four weeks after harvest, to allow herring eggs deposited on the gear to hatch. On 12/1/10 all six defendants entered guilty pleas in Sitka District Court. Each defendant was fined $2,500 with $1,250 suspended and placed on probation for a period of one year.

Four Yukon fishermen fined after guilty pleas

From the Alaska State Troopers:

On 7/15/10 in St. Marys District Court, the following entered pleas to Lower Yukon River charges:

• Louis Immamak, 35, of Emmonak, and Alexie Benjamin, 47, of Emmonak, both pled guilty to commercial fishing during a closed period. They each received $500 fines and were placed on probation for one year.

• Willie Long, 44, of St. Marys, pled guilty to commercial fishing in closed waters as a permit holder and was fined $500 and placed on probation for one year. John Long, 18, of St. Marys, pled guilty to commercial fishing in closed waters as a crewmember and received a $300 fine and also was placed on probation for one year.

Three fishermen fined after guilty pleas at Bethel

From the Alaska State Troopers:

On 7/12/10 the following persons pled guilty at arraignment at the Bethel court and received sentences:

• Albert H. Kernak, 67, of Napakiak, commercial fish closed period, $1,000 fine with $500 suspended, one year year probation

• Raymond M. Evon, 53, of Bethel, commercial fish closed period, $1,000 fine with $500 suspended, one year probation

• John J. Mojin, 61, of Bethel, commercial fish closed period, $1,000 fine with $500 suspended, one year probation

Costly catches in Bristol Bay's Nushagak District

From the Alaska State Troopers:

Location: Nushagak
Type: Commercial fish closed period
On 07/06/09 Bryan D. Hodgson, 25 yoa, of Aleknagik, pled no contest in Dillingham District Court to charges of commercial fishing during a closed period in the Nushagak District. He was fined $6,000 with $2,000 suspended, forfeited 239 pounds of seized fish and on probation for two years with no other commercial fishing violations.

Location: Nushagak
Type: Commercial fish closed waters
On 07/06/09 Dimitian Kalugin, 19 yoa, of Homer, pled no contest in Dillingham District Court to charges of commercial fishing in closed waters of the Nushagak District. He was fined $3,000 with $1,200 suspended with probation for two years with no other commercial fishing offenses.

Location: Nushagak
Type: Commercial fish closed period
On 07/07/09 David W. Pedersen, 64 yoa, of Dillingham, pled no contest in Dillingham District Court to charges of commercial fishing during a closed period in the Nushagak District. He was fined $6,000 with $2,000 suspended with probation of three years with no commercial fishing violations.

Location: Nushagak
Type: Commercial fish closed period
On 07/07/09 Peter Erofeeff, 21 yoa, of New Angel, Ore., pled no
contest in Dillingham District Court to charges of commercial fishing in a closed period in the Nushagak District. He was fined $3,000 with $1,500 suspended, forfeit 7,424 lbs of fish and on probation for two years with no commercial fish violations.

Location: Nushagak
Type: Commercial fish closed period
On 07/06/09 Carey Charles Carscallen, 57 yoa, of Berrien Springs, Mich., pled guilty in Dillingham District Court to charges of commercial fishing during a closed period in the Nushagak District. He was fined $2,500 and forfeited 128 pounds of seized fish.