Southeast seiner fined, ordered to pay fish tax

From the Alaska State Troopers:

Location: Sitka
Type: Conviction
On 4/28/15 Christian Buschmann, 27, of Petersburg, operator of the F/V St. Teresa, pled guilty in Sitka District Court to one count of filing false fish tickets. Buschmann was fined $3,500 with $1,500 suspended and was ordered to pay $1,121 in unpaid fish tax to the Department of Revenue. The charge resulted from a 2013 investigation where the St. Teresa was documented seining for salmon in the Hidden Falls area by Hidden Falls hatchery staff. The catch from Hidden Falls was later reported by Buschmann to another area. Hidden Falls, at the time of the fishing, had a 20 percent tax in place. The area the catch was falsely reported into had a 3 percent tax.

Seiner fined for misreporting chum catch

From the Alaska State Troopers:

Location: Sitka
Type: Conviction
On 4/9/13 Clifford Hudson pled guilty in Sitka District Court to one count of failing to provide factual information on a fish ticket. He was fined $2,500 with $1,500 suspended and ordered to pay $1,207.50 in restitution for the difference in fish tax between two areas. He also was placed on probation for one year. Alaska Wildlife Troopers, Sitka Post, charged Hudson on 3/4/13. Hudson failed to report seine-caught chum salmon taken in the Hidden Falls area of District 12, instead reporting the salmon were taken in another district.