Lacey Act Violation Nets Fisherman Probation

Jay Barrett/KMXT
A Washington State man who fishes out of Kodiak was sentenced Friday in federal court for four felony violations of the Lacey Act.
Steven Carr of Anacortes was sentenced to five years probation by Judge Sharon Gleason for misreporting where he caught $146,000 in rockfish, primarily Pacific Ocean Perch.
Carr, fishing from the vessel Sea Mac, was participating in the Rockfish Pilot Program in 2008 when he took the rockfish in closed waters near Kodiak. The areas were open only when small Kodiak processors participating in the program were accepting fish.
During four of Carr’s trips in July 2008, the processors in question were not accepting rockfish, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder, but Carr fished in the closed areas anyway, and reported the catch came from an open area farther from Kodiak. The U.S. Attorney’s office said Carr also made three similar trips in July 2007, catching about $125,000 in fish.