PWS fishermen cited over anchored net

From the Alaska State Troopers:

Location: Whitter

Type: Anchored driftnet

On 06/27/24 James Andrews, 30, of Seward, was issued a citation for operating a commercial salmon drift gillnet that was otherwise affixed to rocks in Falls Bay, Eshamy District, western Prince William Sound.

Four Prince William Sound fishermen cited

From the Alaska State Troopers:

Location: Valdez

Type: Illegal driftnet operations

On 6/20/24 Kiril Reutov, 33, of Wasilla, was issued a citation for operating a commercial salmon drift gillnet within 60 fathoms of a commercial setnet in Falls Bay, Eshamy District, western Prince William Sound.

Location: Valdez

Type: Illegal driftnet operations

On 6/20/24 James Andrews, 30, of Seward, was issued a citation for operating a commercial salmon drift gillnet within 60 fathoms of a commercial setnet in Falls Bay, Eshamy District, western Prince William Sound.

Location: Valdez

Type: Illegal driftnet operations

On 6/24/24 Richard Eckley, 22, of Cordova, was cited for operating a commercial salmon drift gillnet within 60 fathoms of a commercial setnet in Falls Bay, Eshamy District, western Prince William Sound.

Location: Valdez

Type: Commercial fish closed waters

On 6/24/24 Kenneth Cary, 58, of Cordova, was issued a citation for commercial fishing within 500 yards of a salmon stream, which is closed waters, near Eshamy Bay, western Prince William Sound.

Man charged with harassment in Unalakleet

From the Alaska State Troopers:

Location: Unalakleet

Type: Harassment

On 6/18/24 Alaska State Troopers received a report from a 29-year-old woman reporting she was touched inappropriately by Gary S. Lybrand, 71, of Soldotna, while she was working at the fish-processing plant yard in Unalakleet. Investigation revealed Lybrand put his hand down the woman's front pants pocket without consent and then grazed her chest over her clothes with the back of his hand, while commenting how much he liked her coveralls. Troopers filed harassment charges against Lybrand.

Prince William Sound fisherman cited

From the Alaska State Troopers:

Location: Montague Island

Type: Commercial fish closed waters

On 6/18/24 James Barber, 35, of Cordova, was cited for commercial fishing in closed waters outside the Port Chalmers Subdistrict near the north end of Montague Island.

Deckhand arrested on assault charges

From the Alaska State Troopers:

Location: Anchor Point

Type: Assault

On 6/22/24 Alaska State Troopers and Alaska Wildlife Troopers responded to a disturbance near Iliamna Bay. Investigation determined deckhand Joseph Kuzmin, 22, had threatened numerous people with a knife aboard a fishing vessel. Kuzmin was arrested and remanded to the Homer jail on seven counts of assault.

Feds detail several enforcement actions

The NOAA Office of General Counsel reports the following Alaska cases charged in May:

• F/V Pacific Star — Owner Pacstar Inc. and operator John P. McCarthy were charged jointly and severally under the Magnuson-Stevens Act for interfering with the sampling procedure employed by an observer by discarding catch before sampling. A $3,000 NOVA (notice of violation and assessment) was issued.

• F/V Farrar Sea — Owner RLB Vessel LLC and operator James Carl Wilson were charged jointly and severally under the Magnuson-Stevens Act with failing to log four fishing trips in the Observer Deploy and Declare System. A $5,750 NOVA was issued, and the case settled for $5,175.

• F/V Marathon — Owner Marathon Fisheries Inc. and operator Martin Stam were charged jointly and severally under the Magnuson-Stevens Act with exceeding the maximum retainable amount of groundfish bycatch on two trips. A $4,105.33 NOVA was issued, and the case settled for $3,694.79.

• F/V Saga — Owner Inter-Cooperative Exchange and operator Jakob Anderson were charged jointly and severally under the Magnuson-Stevens Act with making an IFQ crab landing without holding a crab IFQ permit or a crab IFQ hired master permit issued under their name. A written warning was issued.

• F/V Dawn — Owner Dawn Fisheries LLC and operator Matthew Rohde were charged jointly and severally under the Magnuson-Stevens Act with exceeding the maximum retainable amounts of redstripe rockfish and silvergray rockfish in the Gulf of Alaska. A $5,119.68 NOVA was issued.

Trawl case settles for $15,000

The NOAA Office of General Counsel provided the following case update:

• F/V Vanguard — Owner Vanguard Fisheries LLC and operator Per Hesberg were charged jointly and severally under the Magnuson-Stevens Act with fishing with, and having onboard, nonpelagic trawl gear in federal reporting areas open only to pelagic trawl gear; not complying with vessel monitoring system requirements; and inaccurate reporting. A $59,784 NOVA (notice of violation and assessment) was issued. The case settled for $15,000 as to the VMS violation; the agency withdrew the remaining violations.

Mixed ruling on appeal for Bristol Bay fisherman

The Alaska Court of Appeals has affirmed a Bristol Bay commercial fisherman's conviction for fishing in closed waters, but has ordered a lower court to reconsider his fines.

Here's the memorandum opinion.

Prince William Sound fisherman cited

From the Alaska State Troopers:

Location: Port Chalmers Subdistrict

Type: Commercial fish closed waters

On 6/11/24 Thane Miller, 57, from Valdez, was cited for commercial fishing in closed waters outside the Port Chalmers Subdistrict.