DFO steps up patrols against Fraser sockeye poachers

All fishing for sockeye has been shut down on the Faser in response to a low run size and dangerously high river temperatures to ensure as many of the salmon get upriver to spawn as possible.

But Department of Fisheries and Oceans area director Herb Redekopp said the "full-out conservation closure" hasn't deterred illegal fishing on the river.

LINK (via:Chilliwack Progress)

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Five charter fishing boat captains operating out of Rudee Inlet in Virginia Beach, Va. – Jeffery S. Adams, Raymond Carroll Webb, David Dwayne Scott, William W. “Duby” Lowery, IV and Nolan L. Agner – were indicted today for violating the Lacey Act by selling illegally harvested Striped Bass, the Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division and the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia announced.  The captains also face charges of making false statements to law enforcement officers and destroying property to prevent its seizure by law enforcement.

If convicted, the men face up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine per count and forfeiture of the boats used during the fishing trips.

The indictment also alleges that, as part of the conspiracy, Adams and others would puncture the air bladder of Striped Bass and, if contacted by law enforcement, would throw illegally-harvested Striped Bass into the sea in hopes of avoiding detection.

LINK (via: USDOJ)