Kevin Harless, 53, of Togiak, pleaded guilty Tuesday and given steep fine after being caught for the second year in a row fishing outside the boundaries.
A Togiak man has pleaded guilty to fishing in a closed period and failing to register in the district. Kevin Harless, 53, a repeat offender, has been ordered to pay $25,000 for the violations.
KDLG: The F/V Good Deal still sits in the state trooper yard in Dillingham where it was impounded last summer. On July 2, Kevin Harless was caught salmon fishing nearly a nautical mile south of the Togiak River Section line, and he was not registered to fish in the Togiak District either. Law enforcement pounced, seized his vessel, and ended his season.
The two misdemeanors he was charged with carry fines of up to $15,000 each. Harless agreed to plead guilty, and the state suspended half of the financial penalties and all of the jail time. He also agreed to pay $10,000 in restitution.
That leaves $25,000 owed, with $15,000 and 360 days in jail suspended pending completion of three years of probation.
"In the many years that I've been a prosecutor, it's the largest fine that I've seen for misdemeanor offenses. A $40,000 fine is obviously a pretty extraordinary amount, but this is an offense where we felt like it was warranted," said Aaron Peterson, the assistant attorney general who prosecuted the case.
Peterson said it was warranted here, in part, because Harless pleaded guilty to nearly the same violation the season prior. His was among six vessels caught fishingwell outside the Kulukak River section of the Togiak District in 2014. The Department of Fish and Game estimated those illegal efforts probably intercepted some 20,000 sockeye, and put the Togiak River way behind its escapement curve.
Magistrate Judge Tina Reigh accepted the sentencing arrangement, calling the violations "rather egregious."
"That you were fishing so far out, and during a closed period, and so soon after there was a similar violation, is very troubling," she said. "The whole point of our commercial fishing regulations is to run a fair fishery and to maintain this incredible resource."
Peterson said he hopes the severity of the penalties serves as a reminder to others.
"Fishing a mile outside the line, or creek robbing, these are the kinds of things that have to be deterred to make a level playing field for all the fishermen. I want the community to know we take these things seriously, and they are followed through."
Reach the author at dave@kdlg.org