A man from Oregon, Connor Seifert, is facing charges related to illegal fishing activities involving protected shark species in Puget Sound. The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife has released body camera footage showing a confrontation between an officer and the 27-year-old Seifert in Pierce County, Washington.
The officer on video addressed Seifert, emphasizing the rules about the sharks. The officer stated, “You can’t fully or partially remove sixgill from the water. When you wrestle a sixgill to shore, you hop on its back and expose its gills to the air.” The officer highlighted the importance of Puget Sound as a nursery for these sharks, mentioning the impact on the mortality of the pups when adult sharks are mishandled.
“Once they exhaust themselves being fought to shore, all of their babies die. Sooner than you know it, you’re not going to have sixgill and sevengill returning to Puget Sound anymore,” the officer explained.
The case against Seifert followed months of monitoring his activities both online and on-site. Officers set up surveillance to catch him in the act of illegal fishing. Social media posts allegedly showed him on a shark’s back, holding its mouth open.
Seifert faces charges including nine counts of unlawful recreational fishing in the second degree and one count of making a false or misleading statement to a public servant. The first charge is a misdemeanor, while the latter is considered a gross misdemeanor. Misdemeanors can lead to a $1,000 fine and 90 days in jail, whereas gross misdemeanors may result in a $5,000 fine and up to a year in jail.
Fishing for sixgill and sevengill sharks is illegal, and authorities have noted a rise in online posts depicting such activities. Seifert claimed his captures were accidental, yet the videos suggested deliberate actions.
The department has received 14 complaints about Seifert, mostly for targeting these specific sharks. Puget Sound serves as a nursery for sixgill and sevengill sharks. This is a crucial period in the sharks’ lives, making local fishing of these species illegal. Both shark species are listed as “Species of Greatest Conservation Need” in Washington. Bluntnose sixgills are labeled “near threatened,” and broadnose sevengills are tagged as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.