On Jan. 4 a federal judge imposed fines on two Wrangell fishermen for falsifying Individual Fishing Quota records over a three-year period.
Charles Petticrew Sr., 70, and son Charles Petticrew Jr., 42, had on Oct. 16, 2015 pleaded guilty to charges brought against them by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Alaska, and agreed to pay fines totaling $100,000.
The two admitted to submitting IFQ reports falsely specifying statistical areas in the Gulf of Alaska where they caught nearly 4,000 pounds of halibut, valued at $23,375. The reports were submitted to Alaska Department of Fish and Game on four occasions between June 2010 and September 2013.
In Juneau’s U.S. District Court, Judge Timothy Burgess ordered that Petticrew Sr. pay a fine of $90,000 and spend five years on probation for one felony count of conspiring to falsify IFQ records. The fisherman had admitted to being aware of falsified reports submitted by his son sometime between June 2010 and May 2013.
For a misdemeanor charge of violating the Lacey Act – a conservation law prohibiting the trade of illegally-sourced animals – Petticrew Jr. was ordered to pay a fine of $10,000 and likewise spend five years on probation.
The Petticrews also will pay for the installation and operation of a vehicle monitoring system on any vessels used by the family corporation for commercial fishing purposes. The two together operate the Arlice, based out of Wrangell.
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