SE Alaska seine boat forfeited in 'creek robbing case

摘要

On Jan. 10, Prince of Wales Island commercial salmon seiner Curtis Demmert was sentenced on multiple misdemeanor counts relating to commercial fishing in closed waters, fishing too close to a salmon spawning stream, and falsifying his commercial fishticket.On Sept. 13 of last year, Alaska Wildlife Troopers received a report that the F/V Tlingit Lady, a 58-foot commercial seine vessel captained by Demmert, was seining for salmon at the head of Coco Harbor, roughly 65 miles into closedwaters. Coco Harbor is home to several salmon spawning streams and has been closed to commercial fishing for nearly 30 years. Later that evening, the caller reported again that the F/V Tlingit Lady was making an additional set in Coco Harbor. After the final set, the vessel blacked out its lights and left Coco Harbor in the dark.On the morning of Sept. 14, Demmert offloaded 23,159 pounds of salmon to a commercial tender vessel. Demmert claimed the fish were caught on Sept. 13 in open water near McLean Arm, some 65 miles from Coco Harbor. The average catch for seiners fishing inthe open area was 9,000 pounds.